Dating the Immortal's Daughter
by TsukikoUchu
Summary: After Sakura returned to the village after 3 years and after the events of presents for all a new trouble arises and it's not Orochimaru, will the Naruto gang figure everything out before it's to late, find out in the sequel to Jashins daughter the Bagu Hime Major Plot Twists will be happening during this story
1. Prologue

Two and a half months had passed since Sakura had handed out all the gifts she had brought back for everyone, Midori and Akamaru had tried multiple times in the past months to produce pups and finally at the two month mark, Midori was successfully pupped she had about two or so months left to go before she would give birth which meant she was out of active duty until then, and of course Sakura just had to be called into the Hokage's office to receive a mission and that's the beginning of a new chapter in Sakura's life.


	2. New Troubles Arise

"Pinky wake the hell up" someone was shouting at her, Sakura thought blearily as she opened her sleep crusted eyes to stare into soft brown eyes, blinking her eyes Sakura sat up with a yawn, stretching her arms above her head as she slowly came awake.

"What's going on Anko-sensei" Sakura yawned again and Anko shook her head, but handed over a piece of paper and allowed Sakura to scan the contents, her lips twitching up in amusement as the 16 year old scrambled from her bed and into her bathroom yanking the door shut behind her in her haste to wash up.

Approximately 15 minutes later Sakura came back into the room steam trailing out behind her from the bathroom only to be cut off as Sakura shut the door "Hurry up pinky, we've got to go meet our new teammate, Naruto should already be there" Anko ushered her through the house.

Anko tapped her foot impatiently as Sakura turned and locked her door before running down the streets, Sakura keeping pace with her to her surprise "Do you know who this new guy is" Sakura questioned as they walked carefully up the steps leading into the Hokage tower.

"No" Anko sulked, nobody would tell her anything and it really irked her that everyone was being so tight lipped about it "Let's hurry" Anko gestured for Sakura to precede her into the building and down the hall to Lady Tsunade's office.

"Get the hell in here" apparently the blonde hokage was in a foul mood, inside the office was Naruto and a pale guy with black hair, Sakura assumed that this was the person that was being assigned to her team as the replacement for Sasuke.

"Now would the four of you take a seat so we can get started on this blasted meeting and so all of you can get the hell out of my office" Tsunade once again shouted only to moan and press her hands to her temple.

It became clear to Sakura the reason behind Tsunades current hostility and so she hesitantly spoke up "Lady Tsunade if you'd like, I can heal your hangover" she flashed the startled blonde a smile and then stood at her bequest and quickly removed the headache.

"As I was saying" Tsunade immediately jumped back into the explanation "Since Danzou has mysteriously died" here she shot Sakura a subtle wink that no one else in the office caught because they were to focused on staring at the stranger.

"And it has been to long since Team Seven had four members as it needs, the council have decided to push an ex root member onto your hands Anko" Tsunade sulked it was clear to everyone that none of the decision to place someone that had been previously under Danzou's command onto the already broken team, Tsunade obviously hadn't been part of it and she was most notably upset about it.

"No worries Lady Tsunade, I'm sure we can swing it" came Anko's upbeat answer as she stood from her seat and pumped her arm in the air repeatedly "So newbie what's your name anyway" Anko turned and looked at the teen that would be her new student.

"Sai" he responded emotionlessly flashing everyone in the room an obvious fake smile when they sent him looks of confusion he explained further "It was the name I was given nothing else" he shrugged not caring that Anko was now staring at him in anger.

Clearly she didn't like way he had answered her question so Sai once again flashed them a fake smile but remained silent "Ok Sai, get your butt up and move it, we are having a training session" Anko declared a moment later.

'Oh yes, I'll teach the boy just why nobody messes with me' Anko gave him a sweet smile filled with her killing intent as she led the trio from Tsunade's office before the blonde woman could kick them out.

"Uh oh Anko is giving him that smile" Naruto leaned towards Sakura and whispered softly not wanting their purple haired sensei to turn her ire onto him, he shivered a little feeling the killing intent rolling off of Anko in waves.

"Yeah, I know it's been so long since we've trained with Anko-sensei, that I've completely forgotten how scary she can be sometimes" Sakura's response was as equally as quiet as Naruto's had been.

"What are we all whispering for" Sai joined the conversation uninvited his voice at a regular volume, both Sakura and Naruto put their fingers to their lips and in sync hissed for him to be quiet "Why, it's not like she can hurt us" Sai blinked confused.

"You little idiot" Sakura groaned softly "Now you've done it" she winced as Anko turned around and glared at all three of them, Sakura knew that look usually meant trouble and she was right because before Naruto or her could defend themselves Anko started in.

"Hurry the hell up you brats, and you two just for talking about me behind my back you have to do double the amount of work" Anko hissed much like the snakes she was so fond of before turning around and stalking off, her team following her hesitantly.

Once they made it to their regular training grounds Anko turned around and glared at her team once again "Now, Naruto and Sakura you'll be over there sparring and don't hold back from each other" Anko smiled and Naruto eeped in fear, and then immediately followed Sakura to a spot further away both knowing what was about to happen.

"And you punk will be sparring against me" Anko gave a particularly vicious smile and then summoned her snakes and sent them after Sai "Come on punk, you have to dodge them or you'll get pumped full of so much poison, you'll die" Anko snickered and watched the other two briefly.

"You can't kill us" Sai panted out trying to draw but he found it difficult because of the snakes surrounding him "If you do you'll be classified as a traitor to the Leaf" Sai tried to make the woman understand what would happen to her if she let him die.

"Oh just shut up you little punk" Anko snarled this boy was so full of himself, she highly doubted anyone would miss him if he just up and died "Besides how can you learn anything if I take it easy on you" Anko flashed him another smile that sent chills racing down his spine.

On the other side of the field, Naruto and Sakura had just started their spar "Naruto don't your dare take it easy on me" Sakura shouted as he flung regular shuriken at her hesitantly "You have to come at me like I'm your enemy" she instructed.

"But Sakura-chan, what if I accidentally hurt you" Naruto whined loudly, he really didn't want to hurt the girl that was his closest friend after all these years "Besides you could get really hurt" Naruto frowned and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Did you forget that both of us happen to know medical ninjutsu knucklehead" Sakura quirked an eyebrow at him as she waited for the memory to click, a moment later he started nodding rapidly before staring at her in determination.

"Ok Sakura-chan here I come" Naruto jumped forward 'If I remember correctly Sakura always forgets to block her right side' he thought briefly dodging the kick she sent at him and grabbing her hand when she tried to punch him in the temple.

Swinging her around Naruto sent her flying into a tree, it broke upon impact "That's what I'm talking about Naruto" Sakura stood up with a grin sending healing chakra to her back discreetly, she felt no need to let Naruto know exactly how much she had improved on her medical ninjutsu.

Sakura rolled her shoulders and charged towards him, she sent chakra into her legs to increase her speed and sent another punch to his chin, it connected and she winced as a loud crack tore through the air.

"Owwwwwwww Sakura-chan your so mean you broke my jaw" Naruto whined with a loud wail and grimaced as he felt up his dislocated jaw a moment later after holding his breath he popped it back into place tears in his eyes as black spots danced across his vision from the pain.

"It's gonna hurt a hell of a lot more than that Naruto, what the heck did Master Jiraiya teach you" Sakura scolded with her hands on her hips and an angry scowl on her lips as she stared the blonde down where he was sitting on the ground still from when she punched him.

Sakura glanced briefly to the side and noticed Sai bound from head to toe in Anko-sensei's snakes and shook her head "I think she want's us to stop anyway" Sakura gestured over her shoulder when Naruto looked at her in confusion.

"Come on knucklehead" Sakura snickered as he pouted but followed her nontheless back over to where Anko stood next to Sai "I'll heal that for you in a moment" she whispered before sitting on the ground when Anko motioned for them to do so.

"Heal him up now pinky" Anko gave a laugh before dispelling her snakes she watched in awe as Sakura quickly healed Naruto's dislocated jaw and then sat back once her work was complete "Now can either of you tell me what's the number one rule being part of this team" Anko leaned against a tree and waited.

"Never underestimate your opponent" Sakura sent Naruto a cheeky smile as he huffed loudly for the females to hear, which sent them into a round of giggles at his expense, but of course that was exactly what he had wanted to begin with.

"Exactly pinky, I saw you watching can you tell me what Sai, here did wrong in our spar" Anko was truly curious to see what else her pink haired student had improved on, obviously she had learnt a lot while gone from the village.

"He went in under the assumption that you wouldn't harm him, he's terrible at dodging, and Sai was also extremely distracted from the beginning, I don't know what you were trying to do but those snakes are fast" Sakura shivered remembering the last time she had encountered Anko's particular brand of revenge.

"Right on all accounts Sakura" Anko praised "Naruto can you tell me what you would suggest to help your new teammate improve" Anko had to include the blonde otherwise he would clearly kick up a fuss over being left out.

"Well, first of all Sai you need to stop being so over confident, that's the quickest way to get your ass kicked" Naruto ticked off his fingers "Second, don't get distracted focus on the snakes and nothing else for now" he held out a second finger "And third practice your dodging speed otherwise you'll end up dead" Naruto shivered slightly.

"Why should I listen to anyone" Sai tilted his head to the side in confusion, he really didn't understand that they were just trying to help him improve where he was obviously lacking but because of his suppressed emotions he was clueless.

Before Anko could whack the teen over the head an anbu poofed into the clearing with a message for Sakura "Aburame-san, the elders have decided that since you have more than enough room in your home you will be housing Sai" he held out a scroll which Sakura quickly took and then teleported away when she let out a screech.

"What the bloody hell" Sakura seethed and Naruto leaned away from her as Anko let out a laugh her student had most definitely picked up on some of her traits and it was amusing how easy it was for the girl to scare others.

"This is so totally unfair don't those damn elders know that I'm in an arranged marriage with Shikamaru, oh my god what are the Nara's going to think, not to mention Dad and Shino" Sakura grimaced and gave Sai a glare before she could deal any damage to him though.

The same anbu came back snatched the scroll "Terribly sorry my mistake" he muttered hastily and disappeared once again, the minute he was gone Naruto started laughing and rolling around on the ground like a lunatic.

"That was freaking hilarious" he sat up and wiped away the tears that had gathered only to receive a whack over the head from both females "Sorry" he murmured sheepishly and pouted from his spot this time neither female payed him any attention.

A moment later Anko dismissed Naruto and Sakura, stating that she wanted to help Sai improve and they quickly left heading to their homes, when Sakura got home she checked on Midori "Hey" Sakura whispered as the wolf heaved a sigh.

"Mistress" Midori rolled over to lay on her side "They hurt" she whined a moment later as she once again shifted to find a more comfortable position to lay in as Sakura came over to her at her declaration.

"I'm sorry Midori" Sakura soothed the distressed wolf stroking Midori's fur with her favorite brush as she checked Midori over, finding everything was ok before giving the wolf one of her favorite treats to help her get settled.

"Want to come snuggle" Sakura offered and the wolf nodded her massive head sluggishly once the pups had started growing Midori found it difficult to do the easiest of tasks as all of her strength went into nurturing the pups.

"I do so very much Sakura but I find it most difficult to move around much less stand and walk around" Midori gave a frustrated huff and Sakura frowned in concern, just to make sure she ran another hand over Midori to check her over but again found nothing wrong.

"Hang on Midori, I'll go get Hana" Sakura tried to sooth as Midori shifted again and again in obvious discomfort, she rushed from the house not bothering to lock the door like usual as she ran down the streets to the Inuzuka compound.

Skidding to a halt in front of the veterinary clinic that rested on the Inuzuka clan lands, Sakura jerked the door open and shouted "Is Hana Inuzuka here" she panted as the woman herself came running from the room she had been doing paperwork in.

"Oh Sakura-san what brings you here" Hana questioned wondering what the pink haired teen was doing there so late in the day "Is there something wrong" Hana tried and Sakura nodded rapidly.

"Yes something is going on with Midori, I've checked her over but I can't find anything wrong, she said they hurt but I'm not exactly sure what she meant" Sakura huffed out quickly, understanding lit in Hana's eyes as she rushed around to gather her equipment.

"Lead the way" Hana stated bravely, she penned a note to be taken to her mother and brother before following Sakura out the door and back down the streets to Sakura's house, entering she spotted the problem.

"Sakura do you know how many pups Midori-san is pregnant with" Hana questioned gently and Sakura shook her "Well I'll just go check her over really quick" she gave the panicky teen a reassuring smile right as Tsume and Kiba flew into the apartment.

"Mhm it's just as I thought congratulations Midori your having quadruplets that's a lot for a first time mother" Hana's chakra flickered out "Kiba do you think you can help me move her to the bed" Hana called out to her brother who nodded.

"Is she going to be alright" Sakura was pacing back and forth restlessly, she was worried for the wolf that she had become bound to as she was lifted carefully into Kiba's arms and with the help of Tsume and Hana placed on her bed.

"Yes Midori will be fine" Hana gave her another smile, scratched behind Midori's ear causing the wolf to let out a content sigh and then turned back to Sakura "I suggest you get used to sleeping with her" Hana shrugged not seeing any other way to say her order except for bluntly.

"That won't be much of a problem, its more like what do I do when she needs to go to the bathroom or needs a bath or needs to eat or drink" Sakura was still extremely panicky, all of this was extremely worrying for her, she couldn't stand seeing Midori in pain like she obvious was.

"What do you mean" Hana was confused, had she missed something 'No that can't be right' she threw the wolf a curious look and then she realized what Sakura was talking about before the girl even opened her mouth to explain.

"The loss of strength is normal and it has a quick solution to it" Hana assured Sakura "There's an herb you can feed her everyday" she smiled glad that she had figured out the problem and held out a bag full of treats.

"Just half of one of these" Hana instructed, gave Sakura a small wave and the three Inuzuka's left the house, Sakura quickly entered her bedroom and gave Midori a hug and slid into the bed to let the wolf lean against her, drifting slowly into sleep.


	3. A New Mission

A couple weeks go by before Sakura is once again called into Tsunade's office only this time it was about a mission, when she entered the room, Sakura spotted Shikamaru, Hinata, her sensei Kurenai Yuuhi and Kiba along with Hidan "Glad you could finally join us" the silver haired man grouched and flopped into a chair next to Kurenai.

Taking her seat, Tsunade immediately began "We've gotten rumors lately that a group of bandits have been attacking the Hidden Stone village" she stood eyeing Sakura and Hidan before continuing "Yesterday we got word from the tsuchikage that those rumors were indeed true" Tsunade sighed and stared out the window that over looked her village.

"A man named Roshi has disappeared, and please for my sake Sakura don't tell me you knew him" Tsunade spun on her heel and eyed the guilty looking girl as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat "Oh for gods sake" Tsunade groaned when Sakura gave her a sheepish smile.

"I'm sending the lot of you to help them find their missing shinobi" Tsunade snapped out 'Of course Sakura just had to know this guy' she thought, it honestly didn't surprise her as the 6 people scrambled from her office to pack.

Flying into her house, Sakura nearly missed Kakashi and Yamato once again sitting at her kitchen table drinking coffee, she had caught them more than once over the past few months but this time she remained oblivious as she hurriedly threw some scrolls into her backpack, Sakura had almost exited the house when Kakashi called out to her.

"What's the hurry Sakura-chan" the man teased and Sakura stopped in her tracks, back tracked before rolling her eyes, hopping from foot to foot impatiently "You alright there" Kakashi prodded and gestured for Sakura to join them.

"I'm fine as for the reason I'm in a hurry, I have a mission, oh before I leave could you do me a favor" Sakura rattled off before asking her question, Kakashi nodded wondering what she was going to ask "Would you please take Midori over to the Inuzuka compound along with this note" Sakura quickly scratched a note and handed it over to Kakashi.

Securing Kakashi's promise, Sakura raced from her home locked the door, Kakashi knew where her spare key was, and ran down the streets to the gates, Sakura found herself the first one there and she huffed "Hey Sakura" Kotetsu called out to her from where he sat next to Izumo.

Sakura gave the two men a wave as Shikamaru trudged down the street when he was within reach he took hold of her hand and pulled her closer "Maybe when we get back we can go out on a date" he murmured sweetly in her ear and Sakura let out giggle but nodded in acquiesce.

She quickly pecked him on the lips ignoring the whistles and catcalls from Izumo and Kotetsu before settling against his side as Kiba skidded to a halt and leaned against the gate across from the two a moment Hinata came slowly walking down the street followed by Kurenai and Hidan.

Kiba's shoulders drooped as they began walking 'Man this is gonna take to long' he perked up a moment later "Hey don't we have any way of getting there faster" Kiba motioned to Sakura as she walked hand in hand with Shikamaru.

"I'm sorry Kiba but this is the fastest way" Kurenai spoke up missing the look Kiba sent Sakura and he sulked again, Hidan snickered at him and he threw the silver haired guy a glare for laughing at him he was just about to insult him when Sakura finally spoke up.

"Actually Kurenai-san, there is a way to travel faster" Sakura turned red in embarrassment when everyone turned eyes on her, Hidan and Kiba were nodding they knew what she was hinting at but the other three had no clue what she was talking about.

"Please show us then" Kurenai peered at the pink haired girl that was her male students little sister and Sakura hurriedly went through some hand signs and swiped some blood down her arm on the summoning seal that was tattooed there, a loud puff of smoke appeared which cleared away a moment later.

Sakura wasn't surprised to see Tomo had gotten much bigger since the last time she had summoned him "Hey Tomo-kun mind giving us a lift to the Stone Village" Sakura called up to the huge moth.

"Sakura-sama anything for you" the moth spoke in a much deeper voice and Sakura was a little saddened at the fact that it was no longer squeaky, but that's just a part of growing up, Tomo leaned down and allowed the 6 humans to climb his fuzzy body.

A few lazy flaps of his gigantic wings and they were airborne and headed straight for the Stone Village as Sakura had asked of him "So this is who Shino always talked about" Kiba stated running his hands through the fuzz and chuckling at the softness of it.

"This is Tomo" Sakura introduced the plume moth "Tomo this is Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba and Kurenai-san, and of course you already know Hidan" Sakura giggled but reintroduced him to Hidan anyway.

"Sakura-sama we'll be approaching the village in 10 minutes" Tomo called over the noise of his wings flapping and like he said 10 minutes later they landed just outside the stone village Sakura reversed his summons and Tomo disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Kiba where's Akamaru" Kurenai finally noticed the absence of the canine companion and everyone but Sakura turned to look at him in confusion, Sakura knew the reason but no one else did apparently.

"Oh well Akamaru said that he wanted to stay behind and help watch over Midori incase she gave birth before we got back" Kiba explained raising his hands in defense when Kurenai let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Who's Midori" Kurenai asked again she was seriously confused how on earth were they going to find this Roshi fellow without Akamaru there with them, the ruby eyed woman was so immersed in her thoughts that she missed the look Sakura and Kiba shared.

"Um Kurenai-san, Midori is my companion, I made a deal with Tsume-san that whenever I came back to the village that I would allow her to be breeded with Akamaru" Sakura spoke up drawing Kurenai from her thoughts.

"Well how on earth are we going to find anyone without Akamaru" Kurenai stated her earlier thoughts in concern and Sakura flashed her a pointy toothed smile, looked at Hidan who knew what she was most likely thinking, and then shrugged.

"Plume Moths" Sakura announced simply before allowing Hidan to lead the group through the village and to Ohnoki's office, they had to wait for a bit before they were allowed in but finally Ohnoki was free to see them.

"Well if it isn't you two again" Ohnoki grumbled, he hadn't expected Tsunade would send these two, nor had he expected them to arrive so quickly, Ohnoki let out a sigh as Sakura giggled at him but he knew that she wasn't being rude so he let the giggle slide.

Kurenai was appalled by Sakura's behavior and almost spoke up to scold the girl when Ohnoki began speaking again "I've heard from Kurotsuchi that you have a quick way to find Roshi" he eyed Sakura and she nodded.

"Please do whatever you can Sakura, the Stone Village would be forever in your debt if you found him and got rid of the bandits that have been plaguing my village" Ohnoki hopped from his seat and came around the desk to stand before the girl everyone seemed to be fond of.

"Tsuchikage-sama, I, Sakura Aburame will do everything in my abilities to find Roshi" Sakura bowed at the waist before the short man could do anything and he quickly coughed and got back into his chair.

"We'll help as well Tsuchikage-sama" Shikamaru jumped forward to stand next to Sakura, he hadn't known how much influence his girlfriend had but suddenly Shikamaru was grateful that Sakura was there with them because if she wasn't this mission would be a lot more difficult.

Kiba and Hinata nodded at Shikamaru's statement both bowing together, Kurenai quickly joined in and Hidan nodded his head at Ohnoki "We didn't have time to set up a hotel for you" Ohnoki accused and motioned for Akatsuchi, Kurotsuchi and Kitsuchi to enter his office.

"We're sorry Ohnoki-sama" Sakura gave him a cheeky smile, took Shikamaru by the hand and drug him from the office following Kurotsuchi to her home, upon entering her eye twitched in irritation the entire apartment was dirty again.

"I meant to clean it before you got here" Kurotsuchi puffed up her cheeks when she caught sight of Sakura's expression "Just give me a bit and I'll have it clean" Kurotsuchi sighed when Sakura held out a few storage scrolls for her to use.

"I'll help" Sakura offered let go of Shikamaru's hand, gestured for him to sit on the couch and 20 minutes later the apartment was once again clean "Come on Shika, I'll show you where we'll be sleeping" she gave the boy a flirty wink and his cheeks instantly flushed red.

Seeing this Kurotsuchi let out a loud laugh "Oh man you should have seen your face" she burst out still laughing as Shikamaru flushed an even deeper shade of red "That was the most funniest thing I've ever witnessed" Kurotsuchi straightened and wiped away the tears.

Before she could apologize to him though Shikamaru trudged after Sakura, and then the door to her apartment promptly slammed open, it was the other people that had came with Sakura and Hidan "Their in the bedroom" she gestured to the spare as Sakura and Shikamaru came out.

"We need to come up with a strategy" Hidan flopped down on the couch leaving enough room for Sakura to sit as the others sat on the floor seeing as there was no other piece of furniture in the room.

"Hidan's right, who ever took Roshi-san is most likely going to be tough" Sakura recalled how strong the old man actually was especially since he had a "Tailed beast" she whispered worriedly to Hidan and his eyes widened.

"You don't think someone kidnapped him for that specific reason do you" Hidan blurted out when Sakura remained silent after whispering those two dreaded words 'Of course she had to go and make friends with another tailed beast host' he sighed.

"Someone want to fill us in on the conversation" Kiba frowned, what on earth could make Sakura and Hidan look so worried that they wouldn't share the information with the rest of the people gathered in the room.

"Sorry Kiba, it's just that like Naruto, Roshi-san has a tailed beast residing within him and it may just be possible that whoever took him is after the four tailed monkey" Sakura explained her forehead creased in concern.

"Wait Naruto has a what now" Kiba leant forward in confusion this was the first time he had ever heard of this, though it did explain how the blonde kept defeating impossible people though, like himself and then Neji at the chunin exams.

"He has a tailed beast inside of him, the nine-tailed fox to be precise" Sakura raised an eyebrow and dared anyone to reject her friend now that they knew the truth, when it remained silent Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

"So let me get this straight, there are gigantic beasts out there roaming the world and a couple of them happen to be in in people you and I know" Kiba scratched his forehead when Sakura nodded "How come we've never seen them before" Kiba wanted to know.

"Well they aren't exactly roaming the world, it's more like almost all of them were captured and placed inside someone" Sakura explained further, Kiba finally caught on and allowed the conversation drift back to the real reason they had gathered.

"So any ideas how we are going to find this guy" Sakura internally snickered wanting to see what everyone came up with before she finally added her input to the conversation, Hidan knew exactly what she was doing though and he coughed to hide his chuckle.

"Well we can search the forest in pairs of three" Shikamaru suggested he didn't want anyone to get separated but in two groups of three it would be an easier way to search, he also knew what Sakura was doing and waited for the others to add their part in the conversation.

Once Kiba, Hinata, Kurenai and even Hidan spoke up, Sakura cleared her throat "Kurotsuchi do you know where I can find something that belongs Roshi" she giggled softly when she got questioning stares from three people.

"Yeah, figured you'd be asking soon" Kurotsuchi held out Roshi's headband for Sakura to take and she did so quickly by sealing it into a scroll before she stood "Going already Sakura" Kurotsuchi watched in confusion.

"Yep" Sakura flashed a toothy grin at the older girl before letting Hidan take the lead "You were right about splitting up Shikamaru" Sakura gestured for the others to wait a moment once they reached the edge of the forest.

"Hidan will go with Kiba and Hinata, and I'll go with Kurenai-san and Shikamaru" Sakura split the group into two teams of three, before the others could head off though she performed some hand signs and summoned two of the newest plume moths.

"Koko-chan and Shiki-san" Sakura greeted the tiny bugs, fondly remembering when Tomo had been that size before getting both plume moths to scent the headband "Shiki-san you go with Hidan, Koko-chan you get to come with me and Shiki go slow" Sakura warned.

With that Sakura took Shikamaru by the hand gestured for Koko and Kurenai to follow and disappeared into the forest once in Koko took the lead they followed the plume moth from noon to night and then looped back to the Stone Village on Tomo after marking their spot.

As they headed back Shiki flew up and Sakura easily spotted him, looking down she spotted the other group and had Tomo land so that they could climb on and soon they were back in the stone village all a little exhausted from searching the forest.

Making a late dinner, Sakura gave a yawn and put the last ingredient into the easy make soup, she wasn't exactly feeling up to making something challenging, once it was finished the three ate, Kurotsuchi complimenting it, and then both Sakura and Shikamaru crawled into bed.

The next morning they woke curled around each other, Shikamaru gave her a sweet good morning kiss before they rose from bed, took turns taking a shower, made breakfast, ate, washed their dishes leaving some leftovers for Kurotsuchi, grabbed their packs and left.

Sakura and Shikamaru met up with the others and split their groups again to start searching, this time there would be no going back to the village as Koko led them much deeper into the forest this time it was nearing night time when Kurenai ran across their first clue.

"Sakura-san, Shikamaru-kun come look at this" the ruby eyed woman pointed out what looked like scorch marks the farther they followed them, the more it became obvious that there had been a massive battle between someone.

At this point Sakura couldn't hold back the gasp and the others turned wanting to know what was wrong "Those marks were left behind by Son Goku" she gestured to the marks and their eyes lit up in understanding, this also meant that Sakura was half right.

"Don't worry Saku-chan, we'll find him" Shikamaru was quick to try and reassure his girlfriend as they set up camp for the night, Kurenai wandered into the forest to gather some firewood leaving the two teens alone for the moment.

"I sure hope so Shikamaru, and I swear the person who has decided to harm him will pay" Sakura's eyes were full of determination, she wouldn't let another person that she knew and cared for on some level die because of someone elses foolish actions.

"That's my girl" Shikamaru teased dropped a kiss on her lips, twined their fingers together and drug her off towards the river to catch dinner on their way back Hidan and the others stumbled across them and Sakura let out a laugh.

"What the heck happened to you Hidan" she asked as Hidan sat down and began spearing the fish, the silver haired man had somehow gotten his clothes ripped, his hair was ruffled and he was bleeding from several scratches.

"Those two heathens over there" Hidan hissed glaring at Kiba and Hinata as they laughed at him, of course there was no real heat behind the words or glare but still, Sakura hadn't given him as much trouble as those two had all day.

Sakura glanced at the laughing duo "So what did you two do" she questioned which made the two laugh even harder than before, it also caused Hidan to sulk and stoke the fire ignoring them with a huff.

"We might've accidentally led him in the wrong direction a few times, like into a spider web or a thorn patch" Hinata giggled out and shared a look with Kiba 'Sakura was right, it's fun being confident' she gave the pinkette a soft smile before falling silent.

She had been reading the books Sakura had brought her, of course only after she got past that picture and Hinata had realized that she didn't need to be like Ino or even Sakura, she just needed to be herself and that's what she had been doing.

After that no more said was about Hidan's ruffled appearance as the group quickly ate their fish and then headed to bed "I'll take first watch" Hidan called out before anyone could speak up about the nightly rotation.

Once everyone had settled down or so he had thought, Hidan jumped into a tree, Sakura following him silently so when he turned he almost yelled at her in fright "Jashin fucking damnit Sakura" he hissed glaring at her.

Sakura grimaced and apologized before they both sat down together on the branch and started their ritual as soon as it was done, Sakura clambered back down the tree and slide into her sleeping bag that was placed next to Shikamaru's.

The next morning they skipped breakfast, packed up their bags, got rid of the evidence that they had been there, Sakura summoned Koko once again, they had to find Roshi no matter what, Sakura wouldn't let anything happen.

Kiba trudged along feeling sore all over, this was a whole new kind of torture 'How can those two just keep walking like its nothing' Kiba glanced at Hidan and Sakura as they whispered heatedly to each other apparently they were having some kind of argument.

Wincing and rubbing his sore legs Kiba sulked and nearly slammed into Shikamaru as he stopped "Watch it Nara" he growled warningly only to look around him a moment later as Shikamaru remained silent.

Up ahead was an unassuming house, it gave the entire group bad vibes "Be on your toes" Hidan shouted at everyone, grinding his teeth in frustration as the ground shook and the four tailed monkey entered the clearing.


	4. The Boy Who Can Control Tailed Beasts

"Uh Sakura is that one of those tailed beasts you were talking about" Kiba forgot all about being sore as he stared at the massive beast in horror 'How the hell were they supposed to fight something like that' he was right the chakra rolling off of Son Goku was massive.

"Yes, Kiba" Sakura glanced at him from the corner of her eye as she watched the monkey eye them warily and then suddenly they had to dodge the lava attack he sent at them, apparently Son Goku would waste no time in trying to take them out.

Shutting his mouth seemed like the best decision at the moment as everyone was separated, a loud crack tore through the air as the ground split and the lava oozed into the cracks, Kiba jumped back again to avoid the next and found himself standing next to Sakura this time.

"So any idea how we are going to beat him" Kiba wanted to know what Sakura would do in this kind of situation, it was obvious that she had some kind of plan but if she didn't share then they were truly screwed.

"He's being controlled, if we can find the person or people behind the scenes we can calm Son Goku down" Sakura motioned towards the monkey, his eyes were blank and unseeing, she was right the monkey was being controlled.

"And how do you suppose we find the people" Kiba let out a wince as a flaming rock flew passed his cheek and scorched it as they leaped towards another tree as the they had been standing on cracked and got ate up by the lava that was consuming the clearing.

"We get inside that building that's covered with an illusion genjutsu" Sakura nodded towards the house and Kiba shivered, goosebumps rising on his arm at the malevolent aura that the house was shrouded in.

"Don't worry illusion's are my specialty" Sakura gave him a reassuring smile and leaped for another group of tree's that currently provided protection for the other four on their team "Hey Hidan how long do you think you can keep Son Goku distracted" Sakura pulled out a scroll.

"You want me to lead him away from here" Hidan unhooked his scythe from his back as he tried to decide how long he had, Sakura nodded "No more than 30 minutes" Hidan stared at Sakura as she unsealed her own scythe.

"That will be more than enough" Sakura gave her scythe a few swings before latching it onto her back, gestured for the other four to follow her as they leaped towards a new group of trees to once again avoid the lava Son Goku spat at them.

Shikamaru watched Sakura closely as she leaned forward on her branch and watched Hidan jump down on a rock that hadn't been eaten by the lava yet and call out to Son Goku "Hey Monkey brains, I'm right here" Hidan chuckled as Son Goku roared.

"Follow me monkey brains" he whistled leaping in the other direction away from his teammates and Son Goku followed thus effectively distracting him from the others as he walked towards Hidan in order to destroy him as he had been commanded to do.

The minute the two were gone Sakura flew through a long set of hand signs "Release" Sakura drew a dark green kunai from her pouch, poured her chakra into it and threw it at the shimmering dome that had appeared over the building it immediately dispersed upon impact.

"Come on we only have 30 minutes to get in and stop this" Sakura gestured for the others to follow as she leaped gracefully from the tree and walked over to the building, jerking the door open the others followed hesitantly and the door slammed shut behind them.

"Stay close and don't wander off" she warned everyone a moment later as they walked down the hall where voices were coming from inside a room, Kurenai almost said something but she figured Sakura knew what she was doing and so remained silent.

"Your sure he can keep Son Goku under control while fighting those 6" a male voice questioned someone from within the room, whoever else was in the room gave an unintelligible reply and then Sakura heard it, Kabuto's voice.

She seethed silently and just about broke down the door, only stopping when a childs voice replied from within the room and then a thud as a scuffle started on the other side of the door "Get ready" Sakura whispered.

The minute all noise stopped, Sakura sent a strong kick to the door and broke it down, inside was Kabuto, a little boy and two men she had never seen before, Kabuto for his part was honestly surprised he hadn't expected to see her again.

The other two men let out a yell of fear when they spotted her and Sakura turned her head to glare at them as the others crowded into the room she discreetly sealed the door, nobody would be escaping her today.

"Which one of you was the one who kidnapped Roshi-san" Sakura leaned against her one bladed scythe, the others relaxed slightly figuring Sakura had everything under control for the moment as they felt the building shake from the fight still raging outside.

Kabuto and the boy remained silent so that left the other two who hurriedly put the blame on Kabuto "It was him, he threatened us into helping him please Sakura-sama save us" the two begged, hoping that she didn't know who she was just yet.

Kiba's eyebrows furrowed in surprise and he looked at Shikamaru and mouthed to him *They are lying* he whispered and Shikamaru nodded his head showing that he understood what Kiba was trying to tell him.

Sakura however was confused, she had never met these two men in her life so how on earth did they know her name "Uh excuse me but who exactly are you" she figured she could drill them for information to bide some time.

"We are your family, Sakura-sama" one pulled back his hood and allowed her to see the pink hair he had given himself, Sakura pressed her lips together making it seem like she was angry but really on the inside she was dying of laughter.

"We saved you, when you were nothing but a newborn babe" the other spoke up in a slightly familiar voice and Sakura tried to remember where she had heard the voice before as she drifted into her thoughts.

'Sometimes I wish Inner was still here' Sakura thought sadly, the girl would be a lot of help shifting through her memories right now, she thought all the way back to her first memories of a dark night and then it clicked.

"YOU" Sakura hissed glaring at the two men "You killed my mother, see Hidan told me about you two" she glared harder at the two and strode forward with a hiss as she struck their pressure points, knocking them out to bring them back to the village for questioning.

With that she swung around to Kabuto where he was hiding the boy behind him "Hello Sakura" he tried to smile at her but she leaped forward once more and like before punched him straight in the jaw, of course this time he allowed her too.

He was out for the count and so Sakura turned to the shaking boy "Kiba, Shikamaru can you make sure those three are bound so that they can't escape" she craned her neck around to spy the two boys who quickly nodded and found some rope to tie them up.

"Hey there sweetie, what's your name" Sakura leaned over the crouched and now cowering boy as Shikamaru and Kiba got to work, she quickly gestured Hinata and Kurenai over when he remained silent however.

"He doesn't talk much, but his name is Yukimaru" Kabuto spoke with a groan wishing that he could heal his jaw that was currently aching he jerked backwards when Sakura stalked over to him angrily.

"How dare you bring a child into your mess" Sakura hissed accusingly "Is this another plot of Orochimaru's or do you just enjoy pissing me off" Sakura seethed pointing her finger in Kabuto's face as she let out all of her current anger.

"They approached Orochimaru and he obliged them, I was sent to help, yes, but I wanted Yukimaru to have no part in this plan" Kabuto narrowed his onyx eyes as he admitted the truth to Sakura.

Just then Sakura realized that Kabuto had left off the suffix he usually attached to Orochimaru's name "Having regrets are you" Sakura gave Kabuto a vicious smile and removed her seal as Hidan came crashing through the door helping Roshi along.

"Roshi-san" Sakura was relieved even though the poor man looked a little worse for wear at least he was still alive and that was all that mattered to Sakura at the moment "Here, I think this belongs to you" Sakura held out his headband.

"Thank you Sakura, and you to Hidan along with all of you for coming to my rescue" Roshi gave Sakura and Hidan a small smile before wincing in pain "You couldn't have taken it easy on me" Roshi huffed and glared at Hidan when the silver haired man chuckled.

"Sorry but that monkey is tough" Hidan groaned, even though his wounds had healed from the 15 minute battle he had, had with Son Goku, he was still extremely sore, Hidan was also finding it difficult to continue holding up Roshi.

Sakura seeing the expressions of pain, looked around noticed just about everyone including herself had a few scratches here and there along with bruises, she threw Kabuto and the other two, who were still knocked out a glare before she spoke up.

"I'll heal everyone" Sakura offered and immediately called up her healing chakra before making her way from person to person ending on Roshi who had the worst before jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the three males.

Taking the hint Hidan threw two of them over his shoulder as Kurenai led Kabuto through the door, Sakura though took hold of Yukimaru's shoulders and directed him to the exit, once back outside she quickly summoned Tomo again.

Everyone climbed on Sakura keeping a firm hold of Yukimaru as he shook in fear huddled into her side as they went back to the stone village, while they were waiting Sakura tried again to get Yukimaru to talk to her.

"Won't you please talk to me Yukimaru-kun" Sakura made sure her words were soft so that she didn't scare the boy any more than he already was, and again he remained silent only burrowing his head further into her side as Tomo lowered himself to the ground.

"Come on Sakura let's get this mission over with" Hidan whistled at her when she remained seated on Tomo, with that she hopped off making sure Yukimaru stayed next to her because she didn't want him wandering off on his own.

Once they checked in with Ohnoki, who thanked them profusely for getting Roshi back, Sakura left Hidan to explain what had happened and that the problem had been taken care of, as she and Shikamaru went back to Kurotsuchi's apartment.

Yukimaru walked between the two the entire way, he wondered why the pretty lady wanted him to talk to her, maybe it was so that she could use his special ability like all the others he frowned but kept silent, Yukimaru would wait to see what they would do to him.

"Stay here Yukimaru-kun" Sakura let go of him and had him sit on the couch as she and Shikamaru went into a room a few minutes later they exited shouldering their packs before walking back over to him.

"Alright Yukimaru-kun" Sakura held out her arms and he immediately latched on once again, Sakura wrote a note for Kurotsuchi and placed it somewhere the older girl would find once they all gathered they climbed back onto Tomo and he took off.

"So what happened to those other two guys" Kiba was the first one to spot the missing enemies and Sakura swiveled her head around in panick, she didn't spot them "Great they got away didn't they" Kiba frowned not liking Sakura's expression in the least.

A moment later Sakura turned and tried again to get Yukimaru to talk to her "So what do you say we play a little game" she smiled widely at the little boy who eagerly nodded but remained silent to Sakura's growing frustration.

"Ok so you need to let me know what's going on in that head of yours" Sakura tapped his forehead gently and Yukimaru let out a laugh "So I'm going to ask a few questions just nod your head for yes and shake it for no" Sakura continued.

"Your name is Yukimaru right" Sakura just had to make sure Kabuto hadn't been lying to her, she'd learned never trust someone that gave her bad vibes, Yukimaru quickly nodded his head and Sakura asked her next question.

"Did you like staying with Kabuto and Orochimaru" she found it hard not to hiss the snakes name out but she suppressed the urge to do so because she didn't want to scar Yukimaru, who shook his head this time.

"Are you afraid of me because you think I'm going to use you for your ability" Sakura guessed the reason why the boy wouldn't talk to her and she was right as he nodded his head again "Well you don't have to worry about that, you'll be safe now Yukimaru-kun" Sakura gave him a smile.

It took Yukimaru a few minutes to understand what she meant and then, he whispered the cutest hello any of the females had ever heard "Hi" he gave them a shy wave and then burrowed his head into Sakura's side in embarrassment.

"It's ok Yukimaru, you don't have to hide" Sakura giggled at the adorable boy as he peeked up at her from behind his bangs to which she quickly swept to the side so that she could see his eyes better, Yukimaru laughed again.

30 minutes later they arrived just outside the Leaf Village, Sakura dismissed Tomo while Yukimaru clung to her side and then the group as a whole walked back into the village, signed in and headed towards the Hokage's office.

Once they were admitted in, Hidan submitted the report, stating that the mission was a success before Tsunade finally noticed the extra's "Yakushi Kabuto and a child" Tsunade was tempted to shout but she noticed how the boy clung to Sakura like she was his life line.

"Take him to the cells, I'll deal with him later and everybody else out except for Sakura and the boy" Tsunade ordered, took a sip of her flavored sake and let out a sigh, once the door shut behind Hidan, Sakura sat in an empty chair and Yukimaru clambered into her lap.

"Ok Sakura what's up with the child" Tsunade was curious about him and Sakura knew that, she was just a little hesitant to speak with Tsunade while Yukimaru was in the room with them because she didn't know how he would react.

"May I ask a request first" Sakura smiled cheekily when the woman gave her a glare but gestured for her to speak "Can Shizune-san watch him while we talk" Sakura asked bluntly but Tsunade nodded nonetheless.

The minute Yukimaru was gone from the room Sakura finally spoke "His name is Yukimaru, I would guess he's about 7 or 8 right now, and Orochimaru was using him to control tailed beasts" Sakura breathed out all together and Tsunade gave a shout of outrage.

Once Tsunade had calmed down after drinking copious amounts of sake, she gestured for Sakura to continue speaking "He's a very scared boy and it's gonna take a lot of work before he's comfortable around a lot of people" Sakura frowned sadness in her eyes.

"I'd like to take care of him if that's alright" she stared Tsunade straight in the eyes, her own green ones full of determination, nothing Tsunade said would deter her from her decision to care for Yukimaru.

"On one condition Sakura" Tsunade smirked and held up a hand to stop any protests, while she searched around on her desk for the paperwork she needed, Tsunade found it a moment later and handed it over to Sakura.

"You take him on as your apprentice" Tsunade compromised and Sakura nodded while filling out the paperwork, a few minutes later Sakura handed both pen and paperwork back over to Tsunade so that she could look it over for any mistakes.

*Name: Yukimaru Kamizuru* here Tsunade paused and looked at Sakura "Your giving him the last name Kamizuru" and Sakura nodded once again as Tsunade got back to looking over the paperwork.

*Age: Between 7 and 8, special ability: controlling tailed beasts, height: unknown, weight: unknown, personality: shy, doesn't talk much, happy, and has possible ptsd, chakra nature: water* here it cuts off because Sakura didn't know much else about the boy.

"Well congratulations Sakura, you've just become the sole cartaker of Yukimaru Kamizuru" Tsunade snickered as Sakura blushed bright red at the innuedo implied in the sentence that Tsunade had spoke.

A moment later Tsunade dismissed Sakura after stamping the paperwork, gave her a copy of said paperwork along with a scroll, Sakura stopped by Shizune's office where Yukimaru quickly latched onto her again.

"Hey Yukimaru, guess what" Sakura smiled sweetly at the little boy that she suddenly found herself housing 'Oh boy dad's gonna have a conniption fit' Sakura giggled in her thoughts wondering how the Aburame clan would take it when they found out about Yukimaru.

"What, what" Yukimaru became excitable wanting to know what the pretty lady that he really liked had to tell him as he let go and jumped up and down with a bright smile on his face and sudden happiness in his eyes.

"How would you like it, if I told you that you get to come and live with me indefinitely" Sakura giggled as he let out a happy laugh and ran around her in circles causing Shizune to laugh at Sakura when she tried to calm him down.

"Do you really mean that pretty lady, I get to stay with you forever and ever" Yukimaru stopped and looked at Sakura hoping beyond hope that what she was saying was true and that all of this wasn't some cruel joke that he had dreamed up.

"I do and call me Sakura, Yukimaru" Sakura held out her arms and the little boy jumped into them sending the two crashing to the floor of Shizune's office "Come on before you see your new home, I have something to do" Sakura sat up.

"Wait Sakura" Tsunade came into the office and held out a envelope "It's the money you earned on the mission, I also added a little extra for Yukimaru so that you two can go shopping for some new clothes" Tsunade smiled at the little shy boy in Sakura's arms.

Sakura stood and Yukimaru grabbed her hand tightly, he never wanted to let go again "See you Lady Tsunade, Shizune" Sakura waved prompting Yukimaru to do the same as they left the hokage tower and headed down the streets towards the Inuzuka compound.

"Hey Sakura, oh who are you, you little cutie" Hana opened the door to the main house and immediately liked the little boy that was attached to Sakura as she gestured them into the house and up the stairs to her room where Midori had stayed while Sakura was gone.

"Yukimaru" he puffed out his little chest in pride and got his hair ruffled, to which he promptly hid behind Sakura as he became bashful only peeking around Sakura warily as they wandered into the biggest home he'd ever been in.

Hana frowned, she'd never received that kind of reaction from a little kid before, she just about asked what was wrong with him when Sakura shook her head obviously knowing what she was about to ask and quickly closed her mouth to prevent herself from speaking.

"Yukimaru-kun would you like to sit on the couch" Hana offered and he quickly hopped over to it like a rabbit and sat down carefully, he eyed Sakura sulkily as she went up the stairs, when she came back down he hopped up.

"Wolfy-chan" his laugh was all Sakura needed to hear to let her know that at least it wouldn't be to hard taking care of the boy, he slowly walked up to Midori, who eyed him warily, and threw his small frail arms around her massive head stroking her fur gently.

"Yukimaru, this is Midori would you like to sit on her back" Sakura leaned down to his level and he quickly bobbed his head up and down in eagerness, she quickly lifted him onto Midori's back making sure that he wouldn't hurt the pups and led the two from the Inuzuka's with a wave.

Later on that night after dinner and finding a large shirt for Yukimaru to wear while she washed his kimono and attempted to give him a bath, it wasn't difficult and soon Sakura was crawling into bed, Midori on one side and Yukimaru squished in between them as they all fell asleep.


	5. Training, Academy, Shopping and a Date

The next morning Yukimaru nudged Sakura awake "Onee-chan, there's a scary lady here" Yukimaru burrowed underneath the thick covers as Anko glared at him from her spot next to the bed as Sakura blinked awake and let out a surprised screech.

"Anko-sensei" Sakura let out several rapid breaths before her racing heart calmed down "What are you doing here at 6:30 in the morning" she squinted her eyes at her alarm clock before looking at Anko who was glaring at her now.

"Did you happen to forget about team training on Mondays, just because you got back from a mission doesn't mean you get to skip them anymore" Anko huffed as Sakura rose from her bed and called out to the little boy that had woke up when she had appeared in the room.

"Come on Yukimaru-kun" Sakura held out her hand and Yukimaru quickly grabbed it, before following her into the bathroom, inside the bathroom Sakura helped Yukimaru into the now dry kimono before taking a quick shower as he sat on the closed toilet seat.

Once she was finished she dressed behind the shower curtain just outside the shower stall before drying her hair "Later on we'll go shopping" Sakura promised when Yukimaru complained about his kimono being itchy.

"Yay" Yukimaru yelled in excitement as they exited the bathroom, Anko was still standing there tapping her foot impatiently, Yukimaru cowered behind Sakura again upon seeing the purple haired womans expression it was so reminiscent to the scary snake man Orochimaru.

Sakura winced as Yukimaru's sharp fingernails dug into her side as he grasped the material of her shirt tightly in his hand 'Okay maybe getting his nails trimmed is also a must on the long to do list' she smiled sweetly at the boy and gave an inaudible sigh of relief when he relaxed.

When Sakura and the boy followed Anko out of Sakura's home the purple haired woman turned "He's not coming to training with you" Anko stated with a glare at Sakura who stared at her in surprise, Anko wasn't usually this disagreeable.

"Anko-sensei, he has to tag along I have no one to watch him" Sakura murmured sheepishly and Anko threw her hands up in the air in frustration "Once I set him up at the academy, Yukimaru won't have to tag along" Sakura offered.

"Do it soon" Anko snapped, before sighing when the boy wrapped himself tightly around her student "Just don't let him get hurt" she really didn't want the kid to get hurt but relented and Sakura quickly nodded.

When the three of them arrived on the training field, Naruto and Sai were already there sparring lightly together only stopping when Anko called them over as Sakura settled Yukimaru under a tree far enough but close enough, where he wouldn't get hurt and she could keep an eye on him.

"Today blondie you'll be sparring with me while pinky spars with the punk" Anko divided them up into pairs before leading Naruto further away "And pinky don't you dare go easy on that punk" the purple haired woman yelled a moment later before starting her spar.

"You heard the woman" Sakura smiled and Sai shivered in fear, that was the same exact smile Anko always gave him and he had come to learn how to dread the smile in the past several days as Anko beat him literally into the ground.

Sai was about to comment that there was no way that Sakura could go toe to toe with him, thanks to the extra sparring sessions his dodging speed had increased and his female teammate was just the person to practice that theory out on, but instead remained silent.

Charging forward he sent Sakura on the defensive as she ducked under his swing and then leaped over his leg as he thrust it towards her to sweep her off her feet "You can do it Onee-chan" the little boy called from his spot next to the tree.

His now beloved elder sister had trusted him to stay by the tree and that's what he would do, she however hadn't told him, that he couldn't cheer her on and so that's what Yukimaru had decided to when the black haired boy wouldn't let her get a hit in.

"You got it Yukimaru" Sakura smiled sweetly at her young charge before disappearing in her favorite move and then suddenly Sai was on the defensive as he jerked his head to the right to avoid the kunai that had flew at him.

He jumped backwards only to end up on his back as something wraps around his foot and pulls his leg, Sai then rolled left and right when two dark green pikes appeared where he had previously laid, his eyes scanned the field for any sudden movements.

Sai was to late as something slammed into his stomach, the kunai avoided any vital organs but still he had to be careful, he jumped forward hearing a branch snap behind him only to get knocked into a tree as a fist appears a moment later Sakura reappeared.

She didn't give him any breathing room though as she grasped Sai and swung him over her head to crash into another tree that knocked the breath out of him, he tried to dodge her fist and received a punch to the shoulder, it instantly dislocated.

Groaning in pain now Sai stood and got shoved into the dirt again flat on his stomach as Sakura shoved a foot into his back to hold him in place, Sai though had a trick up his sleeve as he quickly performed the escape jutsu.

Drawing speedily because he didn't want to give Sakura a chance to find him as Sai hid in a tree high above her head "Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll" he murmured performing the required hand signs before sending his giants after the girl.

Sakura looked up and tsked in disappointment, did he really think that she couldn't defeat the two obvious ink drawings, Sakura drew two shuriken and quickly sent them flying through the air popping the drawings and allowing her to spot Sai in the tree.

Disappearing again Sakura ran up the tree and stood right behind Sai "Boo" she giggled and sent a kick to his back sending him crashing to the ground thus ending the spar "So, what did you learn today Sai" Sakura smirked at the teen as he groaned in agony.

"Never under estimate my opponent" Sai coughed out some blood and Sakura grimaced 'Maybe I took our spar a little to far' she thought as Anko and Naruto the latter covered in bruises and cuts, trudged over to them.

"Don't worry pinky, he'll be just fine" Anko whistled when she saw how much damage her pink haired student had actually inflicted upon Sai "Maybe you ought to heal him just a bit" Anko retracted her previous statement.

"You don't think I took it too far, do you Anko-sensei" Sakura bit her lip and called up her healing chakra and started healing Sai, who flinched thinking that she was going to attack him again once she was finished she checked him over just to be sure before nodding.

"Nah, the punk here needs to learn that no matter who his oppenent is he should never under estimate them" Anko snickered as fear entered Sai's eyes as he stared at the two females like they were crazy.

Their conversation came to a screeching halt as a tiny hand reached out and grasped the back of Sakura's shirt as Yukimaru clambered onto her back with a impish smile on his lips "Well I've got to go get Yukimaru signed up for classes" Sakura smiled at Yukimaru.

"Sakura-onee-chan what are classes" Yukimaru was puzzled, Sakura had been talking about classes and some academy place all morning and he wanted to know, as they walked down the streets towards the Ninja Academy.

"Well Yukimaru, the academy is where you go to learn things like reading and writing, which I'm probably going to have to work with you on, it's also where you learn the village history and be taugh how to fight like a ninja" Sakura had donned her teaching persona.

"Really I get to go to school" Yukimaru gave a brilliant smile that lit up his entire face as Sakura nodded and opened the door for Yukimaru and herself and headed towards the office so that she could fill out some paperwork.

"Now Yukimaru, I need you to be a good boy ok so that I can fill out all these papers" Sakura patted the little boy on the head as he took a seat next to her instead of in her lap like he previously wanted to as she started filling out everything she needed to.

A couple hours later he was entered into the filing system and the two exited the academy after paying a visit to Iruka to let him know that he would be having a new student "Can we go shopping now" Yukimaru pouted up at her cutely and Sakura nodded once more.

"Of course we just have to go pick a couple people up and then we can go" Sakura hid a smile when Yukimaru pouted, the little boy was absolutely adorable, and it was obvious he didn't like waiting for things he liked.

"Don't worry this won't take long" Sakura assured him with another pat to the head before ushering him into the Yamanaka flower shop "Hello Inoichi-san, is Ino free at the moment" Sakura smiled pleasantly at the adult male when he stepped out from behind the counter.

"She's up there it's been a little crazy since you cut her hair" Inoichi grinned when he saw the little boy clinging to the pinkette, apparently the rumors were true that Sakura had taken on a child as her apprentice.

At the reminder of having short hair once again Sakura ran a hand through her short locks but took Yukimaru by the shoulders and gently nudged him up the stairs to Ino's room waving at Inoichi as he went back to work.

"Ino ready for that shopping trip" Sakura smiled when she entered the blondes room only to grin when Ino gave a soft shriek of surprise and threw her hairbrush that she was using to brush her own short hair and swipe it to the side so that it would stay out of her eyes.

"You wouldn't believe it but I've been ready for months" Ino sulked and grabbed her wallet only to stare in surprise at the boy that was attached to Sakura "Uh Sakura who is the little boy" Ino was clueless when had Sakura had a child.

"He's not mine, this is Yukimaru and he's my apprentice" Sakura rolled her eyes when she guessed where Ino's thoughts had gone the minute she had spied Yukimaru clinging to her hand, he flinched back though when Ino took a step towards him.

"Yukimaru this is Ino, she's a great friend of mine and you don't have to be afraid of her" Sakura assured him as he let go of her hand and hid behind her back like usual only peeking around her curiously when Ino smiled sweetly at him.

"Awww your such a little cutie, Yukimaru-kun" Ino cooed at him, she couldn't help it the kid was absolutely adorable "Are you going shopping with us Yukimaru" she asked softly and the boy nodded cautiously "Well don't you worry everything will be alright" Ino smiled at him again.

Sure enough Yukimaru slowly came out from behind Sakura, instantly liking the new person "Ino-onee-chan" he tried out her name and smiled widely when Ino ruffled his hair "Going shopping" he clapped his little hands this time in excitement.

"Yukimaru would you like to go with Ino-chan for a bit so that you don't have to wait anymore" Sakura bit her lip to stop the smile from spreading across her lips as Yukimaru eagerly nodded his head and grasped onto Ino's hand that she held out for him to take.

"Come on Yukimaru-kun" Ino ushered the little boy back down the steps and out of the shop, heading down the street towards a clothing store that held a variety of things for all types of people while Sakura turned in the opposite direction.

"I'm going to go get Naruto, would you please start by helping Yukimaru pick out some things to wear" Sakura called over her shoulder to the blonde, who quickly nodded and entered the first clothing store there was on the block.

Hastily Sakura ran down the street and up the steps to Naruto's apartment catching him just as he unlocked his door "I'm going shopping with Ino now would you like to come with" she panted softly and Naruto let out a whoop, ran into his house to grab his wallet and came back out.

Locking it both teens ran back down the steps and to the shop Sakura had seen Ino enter and sure enough there Ino and Yukimaru stood, the boy was being stubborn about wearing something so frilly like Ino was trying to pressure him into wearing.

"Sakura, he's being stubborn" Ino sulked, why didn't the cute little boy want to wear an equally as cute yukata, it would be absolutely adorable on him if he just gave the outfit a try and just put it on but no he just had to be stubborn.

"Oh Ino, little kids are much different, they like different things like this" Sakura held up a pale green yukata with magenta markings on it and Yukimaru let out a squeal of joy upon seeing it and hurriedly followed Sakura into a changing room to try on.

A moment later they exited Yukimaru spun in the yukata and nodded his head "I guess that's just as adorable as this one" Ino smiled as Yukimaru pointed at another one he liked just the opposite of the one he was currently trying on.

"Did you bring your old clothes Naruto" Sakura looked up at the clueless looking blonde, who nodded and held out the scroll "Alright we are going to sell these for just 500 ryo" Sakura handed over her scroll and Naruto went up to the counter.

Sakura in the meantime went around with Ino and Yukimaru picking out little shirts and pants for the boy to wear "So, I've heard a lot of rumors lately" Ino initiated a conversation as they were comparing shirts for Yukimaru to choose, which he ultimately grabbed the one Ino was holding.

"Oh yeah what kind of rumors Ino" Sakura smirked, as she put a few more pairs of pants into the cart she was pushing around, it already had at least 2 weeks of clothes for Yukimaru and figured she could get at least 2 more weeks with that amount of extra money Tsunade had given her.

"That you and Naruto have a new teammate, is he just as cute as Sasuke" Ino giggled, she had heard the rumor floating around and couldn't stop herself from asking, she just had to know if this new guy was like Sasuke or not.

"I wouldn't say that, it's more like he doesn't understand that girls can whoop bottom too" Sakura almost cussed but she didn't want to expose Yukimaru to that kind of language yet, maybe when he was older, he could go around saying whatever he wanted.

"Oh well dang" Ino sulked, at this point Naruto came trailing over to them and held out a money pouch for Sakura to take, just as Shikamaru entered the shop, his eyes lit up with happiness and snuck over to Sakura pulling her into his arms with a content sigh.

"So how about tonight you and me go on that date" he whispered huskily into her ear, Sakura giggled and batted him away with her hand and then turned and pecked him on the cheek, keeping it pg so Yukimaru didn't ask questions.

"I'd love to Shikamaru" Sakura fluttered her lashes at her boyfriend "Yukimaru would you like to spend time with Ino for a little while tonight, I'm sure you'll have fun trying on all of your new clothes" Sakura glanced at Ino who nodded at the little boy when he hesitated.

"Ok, Sakura-onee-chan" Yukimaru wanted to spend that time with Sakura but at least he would have fun with Ino, and he figured that later on he could show off all of his new clothes to Sakura too, if she gave him permission to do so.

Sakura could hear how reluctant Yukimaru was to agree to spending more time with Ino "How about after we get back, we can all sit down and have a little dessert and then you can try on all your new clothes for me" she compromised and Yukimaru's magenta eyes lit up.

She knew she had said the right thing when he squealed happily and those beautiful eyes of his lit up, as if all of his newfound dreams had just come true "And then bathtime and can we snuggle with Midori again" Yukimaru had to suggest a few things as well and Sakura nodded.

"Of course but first lets finish picking out some clothes" Sakura squeezed him lightly in a hug when he wrapped his small arms around her waist and then let go when she pulled another green shirt out for him to look at.

Once they were finished picking out clothes for Yukimaru, who was getting a little tired from all the excitement, Shikamaru offered to push the cart while Sakura carried him, while the 5 went around picking up even more clothes.

And then when they were done with that Sakura helped Ino pick out some headbands to hold her hair back and some pony tail holders so that she could tie her hair back, by the time they made it up to the front Yukimaru was out like a light.

"We'll need to stop by a different store" Sakura spoke up as she handed the clothes over to the employee behind the counter and then handed over a scroll describing what she wanted done on each of the clothes, Ino and Naruto payed for their own.

As they left the shop, Sakura grimaced feeling a little drool slide down her neck and quickly shifted Yukimaru to the side so that she could wipe it away "We going to a weapons store" Ino was quick to ask as they headed down the street to Sakura's favorite weapons shop.

"Yes, last stop before we go back and pick up our clothes" Sakura grinned and shifted Yukimaru again, the kid was light but her arms were going to sleep on her as she continued holding the 7 year old up so that he could rest before going with Ino.

The group entered the shop and Sakura headed up to the counter and handed over her headband "I'd like to get the cloth stitched up a little bit" Sakura announced sheepishly as Tenten who had started working in the store winked at her.

"Coming right up it will be a few minutes so if you could just wait" Tenten called over her shoulder, grabbed up the headband and went into the back, she couldn't wait until she got to hang out with the pinkette.

Several minutes later she exited from the back room handed over the headband and rung up the total "100 ryo" Tenten stated and Sakura dug into her coin pouch for the change she had and then handed it over.

"Maybe next week we can hang out" Sakura called over her shoulder in promise as they left the weapons shop and headed back to the clothing store to gather their clothes, once Sakura had sealed the clothes in the scrolls, she handed Yukimaru over to Ino who promptly woke up.

"Is it time already" he yawned cutely before wriggling in Ino's arms to be set down "Do I still get to try on clothes later" Yukimaru called over to Sakura as Ino started ushering him towards her house which was just a few blocks over.

"Yes" Sakura called out to the little boy, gave Naruto a stare which he sighed and disappeared which left Shikamaru "Now that he's gone I can do this" Sakura grasped Shikamaru's shirt collar and slammed her lips against his.

"Miss me much, you just saw me yesterday Sakura" Shikamaru teased but complied to her wishes and pressed his lips to hers in return, when Sakura leaned up on her tippy toes to let her breath mingle with his, before pulling away.

"I missed you very much" Sakura pecked his lips several time before releasing her hold on his shirt "So do you have a plan for this date" she flashed him a flirtatious smile and fluttered her lashes at him portraying an innocent persona.

"I do" Shikamaru smiled and twined their fingers together "I figured until later we could go cloud watch like usual before heading to the restuarant that I have reservations at" he snickered when Sakura's jaw dropped in honest surprise.

"What didn't think I'd plan it to that extent" he teased again and swept Sakura into his arms and gave her another kiss, he just couldn't get enough of Sakura, he needed her to survive "I love you" Shikamaru murmured into the top of her head.

"Aww, I love you too Shikamaru" Sakura couldn't stop the smile that lit up her entire face, her eyes shined with unshed tears as she whispered the sentiment back to the guy she had been in love with for as long as she could remember.

"Sakura I have a question to ask you it's about your religion" Shikamaru felt confident to ask this loudly as they entered the empty clearing they always used to go to, that confidence was boosted when Sakura placed a genjutsu over the area.

"Ask away" Sakura gestured for Shikamaru to start asking his questions, she wasn't worried about hiding anything from him so she would ultimately tell him the truth about anything he would ask not that she would even think about lying to Shikamaru.

"So how many people have you sacrificed" was the first question from Shikamaru and Sakura winced over the years that total had racked up so high and she wasn't even sure how many she had sacrificed anymore.

"The total is probably over 40" Sakura winced expecting Shikamaru to say something bad he just remained silent, until he spotted the dark green pendant that she wore, then he thought of the next question he wanted to ask.

"Do you have to wear that pendant to signify your statis as a member to religion" he studied closely noting that it was still brand new, Sakura nodded and smiled fondly at the pendant when he released it, she tucked it under her clothes again.

"What's Jashin like" Shikamaru asked next, that reminded Sakura that she hadn't told Shikamaru that Jashin was her birth father, she smiled sheepishly and then gestured for Shikamaru to wait as she set up the symbol.

"Your question just reminded me that no one else but my dad knows about this, so Shikamaru would you like to meet Jashin, my real father" Sakura smiled cheekily at the confused teen as he shook his head in disbelief.

"You mean to tell me that Jashin is your birth father, how come no one else knows" Shikamaru rattled off, watching Sakura closely as she raised her pendant skyward and prayed to the god of slaughter.

"Oh Mighty Jashin, grace this world with your presence and set all nonbelievers to rights" Sakura poured her chakra into the symbol and quickly took a step back as like before it turned pitch black and the god himself started rising from the portal that had been opened for him.

"Hello Father" Sakura gave the immortal god a fond smile and a side hug before he turned his piercing eyes on the teen that stood staring at him in awe "Father this is Shikamaru, he's my betrothed" Sakura stated in a small voice.

All of this had reminded her how much she needed to explain to two of the most important males in her life "Shikamaru Nara the heir of the shadow user clan" Jashin assessed the young man critically before nodding his head a malicious smile playing about the corner of his lips.

"A pleasure to meet you boy" Jashin nodded his head finding his daughters chosen to be, perfect for her before he started sinking through the portal as it closed, before he left he gave Sakura a scroll to gift to Shikamaru whenever she saw fit.

"He could've stayed longer" Shikamaru was feeling a little useless why did Sakura like him when she had an immortal father who could give her the entire world if she asked for it, Shikamaru bet that Jashin could do anything he wanted to.

"No, he couldn't have, the jutsu I used to summon him to this world only lasts for five minutes at the most" Sakura shrugged missing Shikamaru's surprised expression as they settled down on the ground cuddling together as they cloud watched.

"Oh" Shikamaru murmured running a hand through Sakura's short hair "You know I think I like it when your hair is longer" he snickered and Sakura gently smacked his chest before laying her head back down on his stomach.

The two laid there for several hours chattering back and forth to each other about random things before Shikamaru sat up "What is it Shikamaru-kun" Sakura tilted her head to the side in confusion as he looked up to the sky before standing.

"It's time to get too the restaurant" he calmly stated but on the inside he was panicking it was much later than he thought and now they only had 45 minutes to get to the restaurant, get seated and then eat their meal.

"Ohhh I see, care to tell me what kind of restaurant your taking me to" Sakura inquired innocently and Shikamaru shook his head, "Aww no fair" she pouted but took Shikamaru's hand anyway as they headed back into the village.

15 minutes later they arrived at the newest restaurant in town, it was called Sushi's Palace "Oh Shikamaru you remembered that I love sushi" Sakura squealed happily drawing attention onto the two teens and loud awws from some older couples.

"Anything for you Sakura" Shikamaru gave her a soft kiss generating even more awws from some elders and some glares from other girls to their boyfriends as they entered the restaurant and got seated.

"Do you trust me enough to order for you as well Sakura" Shikamaru had to ask and she quickly handed over the menu for him to choose their meal "Thank you Sakura" he twined their fingers over the table sweating a little under his collar nervously.

A moment later Shikamaru whispered his choice in meal to the waitress that was fluttering her lashes at him flirtatiously, only huffing when he didn't pay her any attention, instead he kept his eyes on Sakura smiling at her whenever she looked up to him.

One such time Sakura looked up her face clouded over in confusion "Hey Shikamaru did you know that Asuma-san was dating Kurenai-san" she questioned him and he swung his head around to stare at the two sitting in the corner of the restaurant eating sushi.

"No, I most certainly did not but it will make it easy for some teasing when Ino finds out" Shikamaru grinned and turned back around in his seat as the waitress came back with their drinks and set them down on the table before walking away.

Taking a drink of the non alcoholic cocktail Sakura smacked her lips together "This is delicious" she took one more sip and then set it down sheepishly when Shikamaru smiled at her again 'Wow he has a handsome smile' she thought with a dreamy smile.

A few more minutes pass before the waitress come back with their orders, once the plates full of food were set on the table she backed away with another huff, wanting to try something Shikamaru grabbed a pair of chopsticks and held out some for Sakura to have.

Sakura felt like her cheeks were blazing fire as she leant forward and ate the bite Shikamaru held out for her "What do you think, is it good" Shikamaru asked when she let go of the chopsticks and swallowed the bite.

"The best sushi I've ever had" she declared with a smile before they dug in, into their individual meals sometimes feeding each other small bites all while never releasing the others hand, before Sakura knew it Shikamaru was paying the bill and they were leaving.

"Come on we still have to make dessert for that little boy your taking care of" Shikamaru shoved his other hand into a pocket as they walked down the streets to her house once in Sakura set to work, placing the dessert into the oven Sakura nodded.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to go get Yukimaru, if it takes me longer than 30 minutes just use those gloves over there and take the dessert out" Sakura left Shikamaru with instructions and danced out of her house feeling warm inside.

Ino and Yukimaru met her outside the flower shop the latter decked out in a pair of his new pajamas "Onee-sama" he jumped at her and she opened her arms to catch him "See I'm wearing some of my new pjs" Yukimaru giggled, he couldn't wait to go to school in the morning.

Sakura giggled along with Yukimaru "You look so adorable in that" she looked him over from where he sat in her arms "Ready for some dessert" Sakura asked and he nodded eagerly "Tell Ino later" she gestured to the blonde girl.

"Bye bye Ino-onee-chan" Yukimaru waved at her as they headed back down the road "Do I still get to show you my other new clothes and a bath and snuggles" he listed off just chattering away and Sakura nodded.

"Well of course, I don't know how I could ever tell you no" Sakura gave him a sweet smile and Yukimaru laid his head on her shoulder as they walked towards their home on the darkened streets "You ok there" Sakura asked the quiet boy and he nodded against her shoulder.

"Better perk up because I've got a delicious treat for you, since you've been such a good boy" Sakura snickered when Yukimaru's head popped up "Good boys get rewarded" she poked his nose gently causing him to sneeze.

"Does that mean I'm a good boy" Yukimaru crinkled his nose in confusion and the sight was absolutely adorable that Sakura couldn't stop herself from gently pinching his cheeks, laughing when he pouted up at her cutely.

"Yes, Yukimaru it means your a good boy" Sakura squeezed him, and then opened up the door to her house, Shikamaru came out from the kitchen to greet them "You go wash up and then we'll eat" Sakura set Yukimaru down and he rushed off to the bathroom.

"At least he's well behaved" Shikamaru commented when the door shut behind Yukimaru and the sound of running water was heard a moment later "By the way the citrus fruit cake is out of the oven and cooling off in the fridge" he pecked her lips and then wrapped his arms around her.

A couple of minutes passed before Yukimaru came back out of the bathroom, when they got into the kitchen Sakura helped him into his seat and cut a piece of cake for him and then gave Yukimaru a fork and let him go to town on the dessert.

Sakura then sliced a piece for Shikamaru and then herself before sitting at the table "Yummy" Yukimaru let out a squeal of delight and shoveled another piece of cake into his mouth before turning shy when Sakura pats his head.

After the pieces of cake were devoured and the dishes were washed and Yukimaru's face was wiped clean, Shikamaru gave Sakura a kiss on the cheek and left leaving the two alone as Yukimaru fashioned his clothes for Sakura.

Once they were finished, Yukimaru hopped into the bath after Sakura filled the tub for him and he was scrubbed clean until his skin was pink, and then redressed in the pajamas as the two of them crawled into bed where Midori lay and fell into a peaceful sleep.


	6. Yukimaru's First Day and Bonding Time

It was like deja vu all over again to Sakura as she woke up, Yukimaru was leaning over her smiling innocently "Onee-chan gonna be late to the academy" he gave her a cheeky little smile and ran a hand through his bangs.

"Why you cheeky little monkey" Sakura sat up with a teasing grin on her lips and started tickling him, Yukimaru let out loud peals of laughter as she found his ticklish spot "Guess what cheeky little monkeys get to do" Sakura finally released him and he sat up out of breath.

"What do cheeky little monkeys get to do" Yukimaru cocked his head to the side in confusion as his onee-chan tapped her lip in thought, to him, he thought she was thinking extremely hard about something but really she was just messing with him.

"Well cheeky little monkeys get to get another bath, they also get to get dressed in proper clothes, and they get breakfast and then their nails trimmed" Sakura listed off everything they had to do that morning.

Mentally thanking Jashin that Yukimaru woke her up at 6:00, even though it was a little weird to do so now because as it turned out Jashin was in fact her father, at least it left them plenty of time to get Yukimaru ready as she made up breakfast and then lunch for the 7 year old.

"Onee-chan do you think my hair could be put up out of the way " Yukimaru asked softly as he was getting his skin scrubbed clean again and Sakura nodded before washing his thick hair and then Yukimaru was dried off.

"Ok Yukimaru what would you like to wear today" Sakura gestured to the pile of neatly folded clothes, she really needed to get a dresser for the house, as Yukimaru ran over to the clothes only to stop and stare in surprise.

"Sasuke your not supposed to sleep on my clothes" Yukimaru scolded the ferret that was curled up on one of his shirts, thankfully he wasn't shedding yet but still, Sasuke stretched and yawned and Yukimaru couldn't help but let out a smile as he gently picked Sasuke up and moved him.

Yukimaru tried not to make a mess of his clothes, he really didn't mean to unfold all of the clothes and before Sakura knew it the little boy was crying for the first time she had ever seen "What's the matter Yukimaru" Sakura leaned down where the boy was huddled against the bed.

"I'm so sorry Onee-chan, you told me not to mess up the clothes until they could be put away, but still all of them came apart" he looked up tears streaking down his little cheeks and Sakura couldn't help but hug Yukimaru as he continued crying.

"Oh Yukimaru, those are easily fixed" Sakura gently wiped his cheeks clean of the tears as Yukimaru stared at her with those magenta eyes of his that were full of so much sadness, and stood, quickly refolded all the clothes and neatly piled them together "See" Sakura smiled.

By the time Sakura was finished stacking the clothes again Yukimaru's tears had dried and he was staring at her with adoration in his magenta eyes "Now are you ready for breakfast my cheeky little monkey" Sakura giggled when he nodded eagerly.

"Oh did you pick out what you wanted to wear" she then remembered that Yukimaru still had to get dressed, Yukimaru once again nodded and held out the yukata shirt in pale green and the knee length pants that were magenta.

"Alright you get dressed breakfast will be ready soon" Sakura pinched his cheek gently and nudged Yukimaru in the direction of the bathroom, needing no further encouragement he ran into the bathroom and shut the door behind him as Sakura left the bedroom.

She made two bacon and egg sandwiches for them to munch on, while she pulled Yukimaru's hair back into a low ponytail, when they were finished eating, Sakura quickly trimmed his fingernails so that they wouldn't be so sharp.

After that Sakura made a bento lunch box and carefully placed it in a bag for Yukimaru, and then all of the things he needed, she noted the time 6:30 and figured she had a bit of time to give Yukimaru a little lesson on a few things.

"Ok Yukimaru ready for some lessons" Sakura waited and she wasn't disappointed as he jumped from his seat with a shout and followed her to the spare bedroom she had set up to be used as a temporary training room.

"What am I going to learn today Onee-chan" Yukimaru had been forewarned by Sakura that he would get some lessons before going to the academy each day, this way Yukimaru would be prepared for whatever the teachers or other children threw at him.

"I figured we could go over your calligraphy and then run through a bit of how to handle a kunai and throw it properly and then for the last lesson learn how to call up your chakra" Sakura listed off and led the now pouting Yukimaru over to a desk.

"Don't worry Yukimaru, this won't take long" Sakura gave Yukimaru a pen and gestured for him to start practicing his writing, soon enough he had carefully, even though it was still a little messy, drew out the characters Sakura had wanted him to write.

"Good job if we keep practicing every morning, your writing will improve little by little" Sakura squeezed his shoulders affectionately "Next we go over here" Sakura set Yukimaru in front of a target that she had set up in the room.

"Now this is a kunai, its one of the many tools we ninja use" Sakura held out a dulled kunai, Yukimaru wasn't ready for a sharp one, and Yukimaru quickly took it unsure of what exactly Sakura wanted him to do.

"Onee-chan how will this teach me how to practice" Yukimaru looked the kunai over warily and waited for Sakura to instruct him on what to do sure enough Sakura took out her own kunai, it gleamed in the dull lighting and Yukimaru knew that the one she held was extremely sharp.

"First Yukimaru, you never hold a kunai loosely in your hand like that" Sakura helped him adjust his grip on the weapon until it was held properly in his hands "Now repeat after me" she switched hands and he quickly repeated, his movements were a little sloppy.

Sakura told him to practice switching hands until he could hold the kunai comfortably and then moved on to showing him how to throw it "Yukimaru, feet apart" Sakura was a little strict but Yukimaru knew that she was just trying to help him.

He slid his feet apart like Sakura had instructed him to do and sent the kunai flying at the target 5 feet away from him, it didn't exactly hit dead center but still it was an improvement, since he had never previously worked with weapons before.

Sakura made him practice throwing the kunai for 5 minutes until they moved onto the last lesson she had planned for that morning "Ok Yukimaru make this hand sign" Sakura helped him place his fingers together in the proper way.

For 5 minutes Sakura had him repeat the hand signs she showed him slowly until he could perfectly do them "Now follow my lead, think about what you want to look like and then just do it, Transformation jutsu" smoke flowed through the room.

A few seconds later it cleared and there Sakura stood looking completely different, Yukimaru thought it looked fun and instantly repeated until he stood there slightly different, the only that had really changed was his sandals and eyes and he pouted in disappointment.

"That's good enough Yukimaru, it means you at least get the concept of the transformation jutsu" Sakura praised him and he immediately perked up, she looked at the time and smiled, they wouldn't be late.

"I'm ready Onee-chan" Yukimaru took Sakura's hand she held out for him as they transported across town to the academy, he hesitantly let go "You'll be here to get me right" he called out to her reluctant to go into the building where other children were going.

"Of course Yukimaru have a good day" Sakura kissed his forehead and his cheeks flushed a bright red "Aww your so cute" she patted his head and then gave him a nudge, Yukimaru followed the other children into the building.

After getting introduced by the teacher he sat by a little girl "Hi" she whispered shyly, hiding behind her long dark grey locks "My name is Tsukiko Uchu" a little wolf pup yipped softly by her side "And this is Hoshi" Tsukiko introduced herself to the new boy.

"Hello Tsukiko-chan, my name is Yukimaru Kamizuru" he puffed his little chest out proudly before staring at Tsukiko in confusion when she immediately broke down in a fit of giggles and then fell silent as Iruka-sensei pointedly glanced in their direction.

Back with Sakura, she was having a hard time not charging into the building to check on Yukimaru, but she had to report in to Tsunade and get a list of missions, when she walked in she found her aunt and uncles.

"Suzumebachi oba-chan" Sakura snuck up behind the woman and ducked low when the female swung an elbow at her in surprise "So what are you three doing here" Sakura hadn't seen the three Kamizuru's since they got back to the village from her 3 year training adventure.

"Well Sakura we were hoping for some kind of mission" Suzumebachi turned around to glare at Tsunade and got an equally heated glare back "Isn't there something we can do Hokage-sama" Kurobachi spoke up from next to her and the blonde let out a groan.

"If you three would rather do D ranked missions then fine because that's all I have for you" Tsunade snapped and tossed a list of missions at them wanting the three to get the hell out of her office before she started biting peoples heads off.

Suzumebachi, Jibachi, and Kurobachi scrambled from the office, they decided to wait for Sakura outside the building, meanwhile back in the office Sakura was attempting to get her own list of missions to do so that she could be busy during the day.

"I don't have any more missions, if you want to do D ranked missions then go help out your family" Tsunade was more than a little upset that she hadn't been informed by the pinkette as to her true origins and like usual she was the last to hear of it.

"Yes Ma'am" Sakura raced from the Hokage Tower and found her aunt and uncles waiting for her "I've been ordered to help you three out on your missions" Sakura snickered when the two men groaned out loud.

"Well now we have an even number of people and we can split this thing in half, Sakura will obviously be going with me" Suzumebachi suggested and Kurobachi and Jibachi nodded, they didn't want to be beaten unconscious.

The reason for Suzumebachi pairing herself up with Sakura was because she had few things to ask the girl, like the rumors that were currently floating around, Suzumebachi had no way of knowing if anything any of the people said in the village was the truth.

And she wanted to drill the pinkette for information on Hidan, all those months ago when Sakura had teasingly asked if Suzumebachi liked Hidan and she had denied it, she had lied to everyone and now she could admit it even if it was just to Sakura.

Once the two males headed off in the opposite direction, Suzumebachi grabbed Sakura by the arm and started dragging her towards their first mission on the list which just so happened to be dog walking.

'Ugh I hate D ranked missions they are so boring, but at least I'll be saving up some money for some more things in the house' Sakura thought boredly as she walked next to her aunt who had chosen one of the smallest dogs there was.

"So Sakura" Suzumebachi spoke up a moment later drawing the girl from her thoughts "Shibi met with us" Suzumebachi admitted and Sakura snapped her head up in surprise "Yeah it was a surprise to me too" she laughed.

"Anyway apparently Shibi is working on something that will bring our clans together, he said that no more will the Kamizuru be scorned and hated by the Aburames, I hate to admit it but you were right that not all of them are bad" Suzumebachi apologized, Sakura smiled at her sweetly.

"Don't worry about it" Sakura spoke mulling over the new information 'Ninja's are worse than old ladies, they love to gossip, but this is news to me, dad didn't mention this when he came over for dinner last week' she tapped her lip in thought while Suzumebachi gathered her courage.

"You told me that you were never going to cut your hair" the woman accused and glared at the shoulder length pink locks, Sakura on her part looked guilty enough so she figured that there was a story behind it.

"One of my friends also had long hair, apparently she had been considering cutting her hair for a long time and asked me to do it for her, it's a little hard to adjust so I thought I would be kind and give her someone that she could relate to" Sakura explained and ran a hand through her hair.

"Amazing, I've never seen someone so selfless" Suzumebachi blinked in surprise, how was it that even after being exposed to all these bad things that Sakura was still as kind and as sweet as Yukina had been and not to mention innocent and a little naive.

"I wouldn't say I'm that selfless, lets just say that everything I do has a reason or a secret behind that reasoning" Sakura quirked her eyebrow, she then sighed and leaned down to clean up the dogs mess as they circled back to the pound.

Throwing the little bag away in the trash the two females handed over the dogs and headed off to their next task "So even you admit that you can be extremely sneaky" Suzumebachi smirked realizing that maybe Sakura wasn't as innocent as she had thought.

"You know all those gifts I handed out and the weapons" Sakura questioned and Suzumebachi nodded, yes she knew all about the weapons that Sakura had forged in the artisans village "They have my chakra in them for an added boost of protection" Sakura admitted surprising her.

"And how many of those people know about that little fact" Suzumebachi inquired curiously, she wanted to know if her niece had actually gotten away with practically lying about every single one of the weapons she had forged.

"Two, one I knew I could never not tell the whole truth to and the second felt the chakra pouring off the kunai in waves" Sakura shrugged so long as no one else figured out her little trick, she'd be in the clear and it's not like her chakra would harm anyone but the enemy.

Suzumebachi whistled in awe, she didn't think she'd have the guts to be so sneaky anymore as they searched through the forest together searching for herbs that the hospital requested to be gathered and brought to them.

"I've heard a rumor" she brought up the next topic, Suzumebachi snuck a glance at the silent girl, it was apparent that Sakura was waiting for whatever rumor Suzumebachi had to ask her about and so without much more prompt blurted out her question.

"Is it true that your taking care of a little kid and that you gave him the last name Kamizuru" the words spill from her mouth in a torrent, this caused Sakura to look up from where she was picking herbs and start laughing.

"Yes, it's true his name is Yukimaru and I couldn't just not take care of him" Sakura smiled fondly the last few days had truly been a whirlwind but she wouldn't trade them if she still got to keep Yukimaru as her own.

Silence lapsed between the two as they continued picking the herbs that were needed before they headed back into the village to drop them off at the hospital, they still had about 8 more D ranked missions to carry out so they headed towards the next.

"What's up with that guy who kissed you" came the next question as they started wading through the river to clean it from the trash people had threw in, as she had thought her niece would the pinkette turned cherry red in the face.

"He's my boyfriend and also my betrothed" Sakura replied her cheeks were burning in embarrassment, of course her aunt just had to ask that question she thought pursing her lips in concentration as she grabbed a few more empty bags from the river.

"Your in an arranged marriage" Suzumebachi once again accused, she was just about to retract her statement about the Aburames not being so horrible when Sakura spoke up before she could say anything demeaning.

"It was set up upon my request, even if the contract wasn't in place I'd still be marrying Shikamaru" Sakura stabbed a piece of wet paper with her stick, she said all this so vehemently that Suzumebachi had no choice but to believe it as the truth.

Soon the river was clear of all trash, just to make sure the two females went up and down the riverbank several times, scanning the water so thoroughly that their eyes hurt when they were done, they handed over the equipment and then started their next mission.

This time there was no talking between the two of them as they searched the town for the missing cat on the picture, the two split up to cover a lot of ground, making several sweeps down back alleys and looking through the tree's in the park they were just about to give up.

It was Suzumebachi who found him, he was growling low in his throat, stuck high up in a tree with no way to get down, she didn't want to hurt him or upset him even more so she called for Sakura over the communicator.

A moment later the pinkette arrived in a swirl of cherry blossoms and Suzumebachi rolled her eyes "Show off" the brunette mumbled under her breath "Anyways the cat is way up there and I don't want to run the risk of hurting him" Suzumebachi explained.

This time Sakura took her turn and rolled her eyes before carefully walking up the tree and to where the cat started growling louder until it was full on screams "It's ok there" Sakura relaxed her muscles to give the cat a chance to get used to her.

She gently shushed him as the growling died down and Sakura gently reached out and stroked his fur to further calm him down "Your doing so good" she held out her other arm and carefully picked the cat up and walked back down the tree.

"Has anyone told you that your are great with animals" Suzumebachi wondered why the pinkette didn't work with them permanately it was clear that animals was where Sakura excelled at but still she went out on missions and other things.

"No but thank you" Sakura gave her a 1,000 watt smile as they dropped the cat off at his owners house, they both got wide smiles from the little girl when she took the cat into her arms and they waved and headed to the next on the list.

As they started on their next job Suzumebachi eyed Sakura for another moment before starting the next round of questioning "How did you meet Hidan" the brunette woman was curious, Hidan had mentioned that he had known Sakura since she was 13.

She also seemed to recall him mentioning she was in an arranged marriage as well so her earlier conversation was a little redundant "It was in a small town just before Tanzaku, he was cussing up a storm and I helped him find his lost pendant" Sakura shrugged.

"Once the pendant was found, Hidan treated me to some dango and tea and he told me all about his religion, a few days later I sent him a letter and then I was inducted into Jashinism" Sakura only had a few regrets about being a jashinist but they had all been put to rest.

"You were 13 when you got inducted, jesus not even Yukina was that young" Suzumebachi ranted, when she got a hold of the silver haired man she would strangle him for teaching Sakura about Jashinism and then bury him alive for a few days to teach him a lesson.

"Yes" Sakura replied fondly remembering her younger days, it had been fun learning everything from Hidan, she would never teach Yukimaru any of this because she was afraid that it would mentally scar the boy, nor would she expose him to any of it.

"What was he like back then" Suzumebachi had recognized the tone in which Sakura had replied in and knew better than to say anything more about how young she had been when she started as a Jashinist.

"He was a little rough around the edges and extremely tough, but Hidan had a good heart even though he liked to cuss a lot that never bothered me" Sakura listed washing the clothes on the washboard and then scrubbed the soap out and hung it up to dry.

"I always felt like I truly belonged with him, and turns out that feeling was justified, Hidan took good care of me, even though sometimes he was a jerk but I guess he was just trying to fill the role of a big brother" Sakura gave a laugh.

"He taught me a lot of valuable lessons" she ticked off "Hidan may act like he's still a jerk but he's not so don't let him fool you" Sakura teased, she knew that Suzumebachi was fishing for information on her godfather.

"Whenever I cried, he was right there to lift me up and set me back on my feet, whenever I got angry about something, Hidan was there to calm me down and show me what I done wrong, Hidan had me practice until my hands bled" Sakura smiled fondly in remembrance.

"Hidan loves to laugh, his favorite food is steak and mashed potatoes, Hidan's favorite drink is watermelon juice, he likes to talk about his religion a lot" she went further just for Suzumebachi's sake who stared at her in surprise.

"I didn't know you knew that much about Hidan" Suzumebachi was embarrassed if her niece knew more about the guy she liked then she'd just have to start spending time with him to learn more than Sakura did.

After that the conversation died down and the rest of the D ranked missions were completed the two girls met up with Kurobachi and Jibachi and then looped back to the Hokage Tower to report in, they got payed for their work and separated.

As the three Kamizuru's walked down a different street to the place they had been given to live in until they could save up money Jibachi struck up a conversation with Suzumebachi "Did you have a good time with Sakura" he inquired and she nodded.

"I gained some new information" Suzumebachi smiled and the two males sulked jealously, when would they get their turn to spend some time with their little niece "I have something do to" she veered off when she spotted Hidan walking with Kakuzu.

Meanwhile Sakura had noted the time and quickly headed towards the academy, just as she arrived Yukimaru came running from the building a little grey haired girl trailing behind him, when Yukimaru spotted her, he charged at her and jumped into Sakura's open arms.

The little dark grey haired girl followed him but stayed several feet away "Did you have a good day at the academy Yukimaru" Sakura just had to ask, even though she had spent the entire day with her aunt, her thoughts always drifted towards how Yukimaru was faring.

"I did, I made a new friend Onee-chan" Yukimaru pointed out the little girl and Sakura set Yukimaru on his feet and he went over to her "Tsukiko-chan this is my Sakura-onee-sama" he gestured at Sakura proudly and the girl now identified as Tsukiko gave her a shy wave.

"Well Tsukiko-chan it was nice to meet you" Sakura leaned down to be eye level with the two children and Yukimaru gave her a happy smile, glad that his beloved elder sister was getting along with his new friend.

"It's nice to meet you to Sakura-san" the one thing Yukimaru had noticed about his new friend was that she was extremely polite a moment later she heard her name being called and she gave the two a wave before running over to her parents.

"Later Tsukiko-chan" Yukimaru smiled and waved and then turned and took Sakura's hand as they walked towards their house where they ate dinner and spent a few hours going over everything Yukimaru had learned that morning and during the day.

Once they were finished Yukimaru got another bath and then was dressed in his pj's, Sakura got him a snack and they sat down to help Yukimaru complete his homework and then they crawled into bed next to an already sleeping Midori.

Before the two went to sleep Sakura set the alarm for 8 "Now don't worry about waking up early, no classes tomorrow" she told Yukimaru and he nodded and let out a yawn "We get to sleep in" she patted his cheek and pulled the covers over their bodies.

Yukimaru fell asleep first followed leaving Sakura awake for a few more hours going over everything she needed to teach Yukimaru over the weekend so that he may be better prepared and then she finally drifted off into sleep.


	7. More Troubles and Responsibility

One month and two weeks later Sakura and Yukimaru had settled into routine, every day they would wake up, Yukimaru would get a bath and then they would eat breakfast, if they had time to spare Yukimaru would get little lessons.

Yukimaru had improved on everything and Sakura was extremely proud of the little boy, of course they had their little spats here and there, nobody was perfect but it was always resolved quickly enough that Yukimaru usually forgot about it a few days later.

One such morning Yukimaru woke up a little earlier than usual, he had a bad feeling that was forming in the pit of his stomach and so he quickly tried to nudge Sakura awake, flinching as Midori let out a soft growl when he jostled the bed to much.

With only a couple of weeks or even another month to go Midori had gotten cranky and didn't like being disturbed, last week she had nipped Sakura on the arm and drew blood, Midori had flattened her ears to her head and whined the apologies flowed after that.

Sakura soothed the distressed wolf and gave her the now familiar treat to help her get settled and the whole matter was dropped "I'm sorry Midori-chan" Yukimaru ducked his head sulkily when Sakura didn't even stir from his nudges.

"Just be careful welp" Midori snorted softly, before swishing her tail back and forth "Let her sleep she has a big mission today" she called softly when the boy tried again to nudge Sakura awake and he jostled the bed again.

"A mission, Sakura-onee-sama didn't tell me that she was going away on a mission" Yukimaru frowned but laid back down underneath the covers to wait for Sakura to wake up on her own even though he really wanted to wake her up.

"Yes, from what I heard from Kakashi-san, she'll be going with Shikamaru, Neji and Hinata, it's an escort mission" Midori explained being careful not to give to many details about the mission away and scare the boy her mistress seemed to care for so much.

Her love for everyone else nearly paled in comparison to how much she loved Yukimaru and Midori thought that it was great practice until Sakura had her own children, though she still spent time with everyone else, Yukimaru got the most of Sakura attention.

Before Yukimaru knew it he was slowly falling back to sleep, Sakura woke him up at 7:30 it was a saturday "Come on Yukimaru breakfast is waiting" Sakura smiled at him and he hopped from the bed in his pjs and quickly ate.

Afterwards he was dressed and Sakura packed him a bag for the few days she would be gone on her mission when she began explaining to the pouting boy, Yukimaru nodded his head puffing his cheeks up angrily.

"I need you to be a good boy for Ino-chan while I'm gone ok" Sakura knew that Yukimaru was angry but she couldn't do anything about it at the moment "I'll bring you back a souvenir" she compromised and his eyes lit up.

"Ok Onee-chan, I'll be a good boy for Ino-chan" Yukimaru's eyes watered and the tears dripped down his cheeks, Sakura hastily wiped the tears away and pulled him into an affectionate hug before pulling back.

"Wait what about Midori-chan" Yukimaru looked back at the wolf that still laid on the bed "Who's going to take care of her" he didn't like the fact that he would be going somewhere else while Midori stayed at his house alone.

"Well Hana-chan is going to drop by 3 times everyday to make sure she is doing well and Kakashi will be watching the house for us" Sakura explained putting Yukimaru's worries to rest as they left the house and walked down the street to the flower shop.

Ino was waiting out front and Sakura quickly handed over the bag that held some things for Yukimaru and Yukimaru latched onto Ino, she was his second favorite person "I'll be back in a few days" Sakura waved and disappeared to meet up with her team.

She was the first one to arrive at the gates like usual and spotted Shino heading down the road, that reminded her, Shino and Shibi had adored Yukimaru and accepted him as part of the family with no trouble which honestly surprised her.

Of course she had been on 5 more dates with Shikamaru, each one was better than the last, as Shino passed her, he gave her a nod signed out on the sheet and disappeared into the forest carrying his net that she had given him to what seemed to her so long ago.

Minutes later her three teammates showed up and Shikamaru immediately began going over the mission debrief "So this is an escort mission the people we are escorting is Nagato and Konan from the Hidden Rain Village to the Leaf Village" Shikamaru read.

"The Rain has been getting threats from an unknown source and wish to draw them out" Shikamaru continued looking each of them in the eye to make sure they understood "We four will pair up and protect a person each" he explained part of his plan.

"Sakura and Neji will protect Nagato and Hinata and I will protect Konan, when the enemy reveals themselves we take them out and there will be no hesitating" Shikamaru finished the plan was simple and allowed for a lot of wiggle room.

So long as they took out all of the enemies and successfully escorted the two back to the Leaf Village for a meeting with Tsunade and then escort them back, the team should be in the clear hopefully the enemy wouldn't be that difficult to defeat.

Checking her gear once the debriefing was over Sakura nodded, she wouldn't let anything happen this time, Shikamaru gestured for her to stand next to Neji and the four set off towards the Hidden Rain Village.

With Ino and Yukimaru, he was being stubborn and refused to wear his hair down but he didn't want it as high as Ino wanted to put it "No" Yukimaru stomped his little foot throwing a minor temper tantrum.

"Ok, ok Yukimaru where do you want me to tie it at" Ino slumped her shoulders, the last time she had watched him, Yukimaru had been perfectly agreeable and so sweet, over the months his entire personality had taken a 360 degree turn and now he was more outgoing and stubborn.

"Here" he gestured low and Ino swiftly tied his hair back like he wanted "Thank you Ino-chan, now can we go to the park" Yukimaru pouted up at her cutely and she easily gave in not wanting Yukimaru to throw another fit if she said no.

"Of course Yukimaru-kun" Ino sighed but smiled immediately after when Yukimaru glanced at her from across her room where he was waiting by the door, soon they were heading down the steps and over to the park 6 blocks away from the flower shop.

Meanwhile with the escort team, Sakura was quietly conversing with Neji "I must truly thank you for that kusarigama, it is most useful" Neji was thanking her for the weapon she had gifted him "The last mission is where I truly became thankful for it" he dipped his head in thanks again.

"That's what it's there for to be useful" Sakura smiled accepting the thanks with grace "How was the chocolate from the star village" she laughed when his cheeks flushed in embarrassment "That good huh" Sakura teased him she had to remember to tell this to Tenten.

Oh that reminded her, she had spent a few hours hanging out with Tenten and the brunette was most ecstatic as they sparred for an hour neither girl won though because they were evenly matched and then they just chatted for the rest of the day.

"I still have quite a bit left" Neji admitted and pulled out a storage scroll and then he registered Sakura's words "You never tried it" he blinked, how could anyone give up the most delicious treat on earth at least in his eyes.

"Nope" Sakura grinned and Neji broke off a small piece from the large bar he unsealed "You don't have to share" she tried to wave it off as they continued walking, Shikamaru and Hinata were further ahead of them.

"Take it as my thanks for the chocolate from the star village" Neji offered the small piece again and Sakura took it without further fuss, popped it into her mouth and savored the nutty flavor of the almonds in the chocolate before swallowing.

"Thanks" Sakura wiped her hands clean because some chocolate had melted on them and then set a faster pace so that neither of the two would be left behind once Sakura and Neji caught up with Shikamaru and Hinata no one else said anything.

Neji remained silent for two reasons, one was that this mission had another reason for it being given to the team and that reason was that it was Sakura's test for her to become a jonin, no one on the team but he knew.

The second reason was because he didn't want to be caught off guard by anyone as they settled down for the night and Sakura cast a protective genjutsu barrier over the clearing so that they could all safely rest and that way no one would be tired.

After eating dinner that Sakura made over the fire the four laid down in their sleeping bags bedding down close to the fire, their weapons within reach just in case and then together they all fell asleep, the fire crackling soothingly.

Back in the Leaf Village Ino was having a hard time getting Yukimaru to go too sleep, she had offered to sleep on the floor so that he could have her bed, but he had once again stomped his foot in another tantrum, he had been agreeable all day once they got to the park.

Ino didn't understand how Sakura could handle taking care of a kid, much less want another whenever she married Shikamaru she was extremely frustrated and on the verge of yelling back at the little boy when Inoichi and her mother entered the room.

"What's the matter Yukimaru-kun" Akiko Yamanaka gently asked her question to the crying boy that her daughter had generously offered to take care of while Sakura was gone out on her jonin test everyone but Sakura and two of her teammates knew about it.

"Sakura-onee-sama always cuddles with me and Ino-chan doesn't want to cuddle with me" Yukimaru sniffled his nose running as tears coursed down his cheeks, this made Ino feel guilty because she hadn't asked what was wrong.

"Is that so, did you ask Ino-chan that you wanted to cuddle with her" Akiko smiled kindly at the adorable little boy and he quickly shook his head "Ah why don't you ask her now and see" she patted his head gently and then with Inoichi left the room.

"Would you like me to cuddle with you Yukimaru" Ino gave him an apologetic smile and he nodded "Well then shall we get you dressed for bed" Ino gave a small laugh when he jumped from the bed to the floor and ran over to his bag that Sakura had packed for him.

Emerging with the pajamas that he favored, he almost stripped bare in the room when a thought came to him "Sakura-onee-sama always gives me a bath before bed time" Yukimaru explained when Ino gave him a quizzical look.

"Oh I see well come on then Yukimaru-kun" Ino held out her hand, which he quickly took as she led him part way down the stairs and to the bathroom , Yukimaru was bathed and then dressed in his pajamas and led back up the stairs to her room again.

Ino laid down on the bed and gestured for Yukimaru to get in and snuggle with her like he had wanted, a few minutes later he was snoring softly and Ino sighed in relief before she fell asleep herself with a smile on her lips.

The next morning the two woke at the same time, Ino felt a little more confident about watching Yukimaru because of yesterday, Yukimare dressed in day clothes and followed Ino around the flower shop like a little duckling, the customers thought he was absolutely adorable.

Sakura and her teammates had also woken up, they had eaten breakfast and put away they sleeping bags, once again setting forward towards the Rain Village along the way they ran into someone unexpected "Kimimaro" Sakura called out and the Kaguya turned in surprise.

"Oh Sakura-sama it's nice to see you again" he greeted tonelessly, honestly he had never expected to see the pink haired girl again but there she was walking with 3 others and he didn't know quite how to react.

"Is that all you can say geez spend along time apart and you revert back to Sakura-sama, it's like we don't even know each other anymore" Sakura threw her hands up in frustration, ranting and raving like she had all the time in the world.

"My apologies Sakura-sama" Kimimaro bowed low and her eye twitched in aggravation, a second later he straightened and waited for the next comment and Sakura didn't disappoint as she scolded him, which he could honestly say scared him at the intensity of it.

"Stop that Kimimaro, you can still call me Sakura, but you know better than to call me Sakura-sama to my face, by the way I still want to smack you for leaving like you did" Sakura glared at him and Kimimaro paled and hurriedly took a step back.

He once again tried to apologize but Sakura cut him off mid sentence "Don't you dare Kimimaro, saying sorry isn't going to fix the past" she seethed the anger and sadness she had felt over his abandonment was coming out in full force.

Shikamaru knew better than to try and intervene when Sakura was this angry and if what she was saying was the truth, this confrontation had been in the makings for a long time and Kimimaro most likely deserved everything Sakura threw at him.

Neji and Hinata wisely remained silent, they had a few extra hours to dawdle as they pleased and Neji wouldn't admit it but it was slightly funny that Sakura could scare someone half as well as her sensei could.

"When you left Kimimaro do you know how sad that made me, do you" Sakura shook her finger at him accusingly and he winced "I broke down crying you jerk, what happened to sticking together like you promised" Sakura by now was calming down the anger replaced by sadness.

Kimimaro on his part hadn't realized that Sakura had been upset over him leaving, in fact he had thought that she would be better off if he wasn't there, but apparently he had been wrong and now Kimimaro was paying for it in the form of Sakura herself.

"I'm sorry" Kimimaro looked to the ground feeling pretty stupid, if he had just stayed with her like he had promised then he wouldn't be on the receiving end of Sakura's anger "I now see the error of my ways Sakura" Kimimaro admitted and Sakura stopped her rant.

"Well I'm glad you see it my way" Sakura sighs in relief, gives Kimimaro a side hug, she internally snickered as Shikamaru stared at Kimimaro jealously, Sakura went over to Shikamaru and pecked him on the cheek.

"Now that, that's all over we can continue on to the village" Neji stepped forward and led the group the rest of the way to the Rain Village, when they reached the gates Sakura groaned knowing what was coming.

Apparently so did Shikamaru because he started chuckling softly under his breath, the minute they were within eyesight of the guard, he jumped up and bowed low, popping back up a minute later he opened the gates "Sakura-hime welcome back" he stated.

Sakura gave him a half hearted smile and sulked next to Shikamaru as they walked through the village getting cheers and applause from some villagers here and there, by the time they reached the building Shikamaru was full on laughing and the others were confused.

Sakura gave Shikamaru a glare, she was a little upset with him because he kept laughing at her so she turned and shrugged his arms off her shoulders and marched into the building completely ignoring him for the time being.

"Uh oh looks like someones in trouble his girlfriend" Hinata giggled at the distraught expression on Shikamaru's face, he was frowning and his eyes reflected his guilt, obviously he knew just what Sakura was angry with him for.

They quickly followed Sakura down the hall and into Nagato's office where she was chattering away, though when she saw Shikamaru, she raised her head high and turned on her heel so that she didn't have to look at him.

This caused Konan to blink in confusion, she'd never seen Sakura treat Shikamaru so horribly, maybe they were having relationship problems, well either way she'd find out on the way back to the Leaf Village.

Turns out she didn't have much of a chance to talk to Sakura because she and Neji were protecting Nagato and they were much further ahead so instead Konan turned to look at the teenage boy trudging along next to her.

"So it looks like Sakura is angry with you, if you notice the angry glares and the silent treatment" Konan struck up a conversation and Shikamaru nodded, he was sulking but he knew that he deserved a little silent treatment.

"Yeah, on the way through the village I remembered that people here like to call Sakura, Sakura-hime so I kinda laughed and she got angry with me" Shikamaru admitted sheepishly and slumped his shoulders.

He never wanted to fight with Sakura again, his heart hurt a little because of the silence and the distance from him "I see well at least you know what not to do anymore" Konan silently giggled at the boy Sakura loved enough to marry.

Up ahead Neji and Sakura had come to a screeching halt, their sudden stop made Nagato wary as they searched through the forest with their eyes, seeing this Shikamaru, Hinata and Konan sped up so that they weren't separated.

"Neji what do you see with your byakugan" Sakura whispered as silence enveloped the group, it set everyone on edge because several chakra sources were all around the area, they were completely surrounded.

"Two guys, one has pink hair, around us there are at least 15 no 20 enemies" he looked around slowly and then whispered back missing Sakura's murderous expression, Shikamaru caught it though and knew instantly what she was thinking.

"It's them isn't it Sakura, the ones that killed your mom and took you away from your real family" he rubbed her shoulders reassuringly and Sakura let him needing the comfort at the moment "This time we won't let them escape" he murmured in her ear and Sakura nodded.

"Nagato-san, Konan-san please let us Leaf Shinobi handle the enemy" Neji dipped his head and the two nodded "Let's go" he ordered and the group spread out around the two as the 20 enemies appeared in the clearing.

"Hand over the two leaders of the Rain Village Leaf Shinobi and we'll let you off with a warning, actually hand over the pink haired bitch our masters want her too" the ring leader snickered and gestured for them to do as he had asked.

"Forget it we aren't handing anybody over" Hinata shouted activating her own byakugan and creating hand signs "Gentle Step: Twin Lions Fist" she called out her jutsu and chakra in the shape of lions encased her arms and she leaped forward taking out the first enemy.

That set the others into action and they leaped into the fray taking down enemies left and right until only a few remained seeing this Shikamaru leaped to Sakura's side "Can you perform your ritual" he asked curiously and Sakura stared at him weirdly.

"You want the others to see my sacrifice ritual" Sakura raised an eyebrow at him and he shook his head sheepishly "Then what do you want me to do" she asked again and Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and glanced over his shoulder at the other four.

"We'll go on ahead take your time" Nagato knew the questioning look Shikamaru was directing at them and quickly ushered the others down the road letting Neji stand close by so that he didn't worry so much about their missing teammates.

Once they were gone Sakura performed a barrier genjutsu to hide them from prying eyes and Shikamaru captured the remaining enemy in his shadows as Sakura drew her symbol on the ground in her blood before healing the wound.

Sakura stalked over to the ring leader and sliced his cheek before walking back over to her circle and ingesting his blood, her skin changed black and she had white markings on her body as she shrugged off most of her clothes.

"Oh Mighty Lord Jashin, by whom all things are set free, I cast myself utterly into thine arms and place myself unreservedly under thy all powerful protection" Sakura started by slashing her wrist like usual, it had been awhile since her last sacrifice so she winced at the pain.

Shikamaru watched carefully as matching cuts appeared on the man he had caught in his shadows, it was clear to him as she continued up her arms that she was using her full knowledge on anatomy his attention was focused on Sakura when she started speaking again.

"Visit justice and vengeance upon those who seek my destruction render them powerless and devastated" Sakura smirked letting the dark magic of the ancient ritual wash over her as her victim screamed in agony when she gutted herself.

Shikamaru swallowed thickly wondering how Sakura could stand doing that, but he wouldn't judge her because he loved her that much, Shikamaru's neck cracked as he swung it around to the man that was struggling against his bonds.

"Stop please what are you doing" the man begged his eyes impossibly wide as pain racked his entire body, how the hell did everything go south, all his masters had wanted was the death of the leaders of the rain village and the pink haired girl that he now feared.

"Begging won't get you anywhere, your an enemy of my friends and I can't let you get away" Sakura conversed with him for a minute before focusing back on cutting up as much of her body as she could, the man's screams turned hoarse and then he began choking on his blood.

"Fill my soul with thy invincible power, strengthen me so that I may persevere in your service Oh Mighty Lord Jashin" Sakura finished and with another smirk shoved the kunai into her heart and both Sakura and the man fell over obviously dead.

A few minutes passed and Sakura woke up with a pleasure filled groan, Shikamaru helped her sit up when she wobbled unsteadily and then to Shikamaru's eternal curiosity the body of the man Sakura had just sacrificed sunk into the ground.

The whole thing had maybe taken 5 minutes which gave the two teens plenty of time to remove the genjutsu after Sakura had put back on her clothes and search the forest for the people that had murdered Sakura's mother.

The two however were long gone when they realized that their subordinates had failed and so Sakura and Shikamaru quickly caught up with the others, a few hours later they made camp and rested there.

In the village with Ino and Yukimaru, Ino had fared a little better today with Yukimaru and the little boy had only had one tantrum when one of Ino's customers had stomped on the flower he had tried to give her, when he had realized she was unhappy about something.

That had brought out Ino's parents when Yukimaru's cries filtered into the back of the shop, the woman profusely apologized and even bought a bundle of roses and gave one to Yukimaru that had settled him down almost instantly.

Once Ino was free from her duties, she again took Yukimaru to the park, where he let out a squeal of delight upon seeing his newest friend Tsukiko standing next to her was another little girl with red and blue hair and equally as red and blue eyes.

"Yukimaru-kun, this is Yume-chan" Tsukiko introduced the little boy to the silent girl when she flinched away from him "Yume-chan, Yukimaru-kun won't hurt you" she assured the little girl and Yume nodded.

"Want to play with us Yukimaru-kun" Yume spoke to him shyly and he nodded, Yukimaru let the two girls lead him over to the swings and they all three clambered into one and started swinging back and forth until Ino called out to him that it was time to go back.

Yukimaru waved at the two little girls and ran back over to Ino and took her hand tightly in his own, he didn't want to get lost especially as it was getting dark, at that moment his stomach chose to growl loudly in hunger, Ino laughed when Yukimaru's cheeks turned pink.

"I was wondering when you'd start complaining about being angry, thanks to your little tantrum we had to miss lunch" Ino grimaced, Sakura had warned her that Yukimaru was unhealthy and needed 3 meals a day.

She just hoped that Sakura wouldn't find out and that Yukimaru wouldn't tattle on her "I'm sorry Ino-chan" Yukimaru sulked but followed Ino into the flower shop and into the kitchen where dinner already sat waiting for them on the table along with a note from Ino's parents.

The note simply stated that they would be out for the rest of the night and Ino hurriedly helped Yukimaru into the chair and warmed up their food that was a little cold before Yukimaru once again got a bath and then Ino read to him until he fell asleep a little earlier than usual.

The next morning the escort team hurried down the road towards the Leaf Village they didn't feel right sleeping so they travelled through the night on the request of Nagato and Konan, when they reached the gates Tsunade met them along with the jonin sensei's.

"Congratulations Sakura on passing your jonin test" Tsunade surprised the pinkette by handing her a new headband that was decorated in her normal marks Sakura took the headband in confusion and tied the new one around her neck and handed over the old one.

"Wait so this was a jonin test and I wasn't told" Sakura scratched her head in confusion and Tsunade nodded before gesturing for the team and the rain shinobi to follow her to the Hokage Tower so that she could explain further.

"Sakura everyone felt that you were the most deserving off the statis of jonin because of your hard work and never give up attitude, much like Naruto's who will also be getting a jonin test here soon and thus the test was set up without your knowledge" Tsunade rattled off.

"So I'm a jonin know" Sakura blinked and Tsunade nodded as the others clapped in congratulations "Awesome-sauce" she smiled and gave Shikamaru a happy smile, she had forgiven him several hours ago and no longer was angry with him.

Shikamaru on his part hadn't had to do anything and Sakura had easily forgiven him as they had cuddled in the double sleeping bag Sakura had pulled out so that there would be a little more room around the fire for everyone to sleep comfortably and warm.

"Go see Yukimaru, I've heard from Inoichi that he's been giving Ino a hard time, not that it's his fault but still he's finding it hard to adjust to you being gone" Tsunade snickered and took a sip of her sake as Sakura dashed from her office.

Running down the streets towards the flower shop, Sakura hoped she wasn't to late to catch Ino and Yukimaru before Yukimaru went to the academy for lessons, turns out she was just in time and barely caught Yukimaru as he leaped at her.

The two were sent to the ground and Sakura let out a groan as sharp rocks dug into her back "Oops I'm sorry Sakura-onee-sama" Yukimaru had gotten to excited and now Sakura was hurt because of him, his eyes had just started watering when Sakura pulled him into a hug.

"I'm ok Yukimaru" Sakura pulled away and gave him a smile showing off her teeth "You cheeky little monkey" she teased when he giggled at her and then gave him another hug, she had honestly missed the little boy.

"That's right I'm a cheeky little monkey and guess what cheeky little monkeys have to do" Yukimaru recited the words she had spoken to him so long ago that it surprised her that he even remembered them but Sakura played along.

"No Yukimaru, what do cheeky little monkeys have to do" Sakura tickled his side and he let out soft squeals of laughter, once she released him Yukimaru took deep breaths before opening his mouth to tell her.

"Cheeky little monkeys have to go to school so that they can learn" Yukimaru broke down giggling when Sakura pinched his cheeks teasingly and then smoothed his hair back as they stood in the middle of the street.

"That's right Yukimaru and you better hurry because you don't want to be late" Sakura gestured to Ino and he ran to the blonde who gave her a wide grin and led the boy down the street and towards the academy so that he could begin his lessons.

The moment they disappeared down a side road Sakura turned in the opposite direction to head to her house when it happened, Kiba came flying down the road he had felt Sakura's chakra enter the village and he was relieved.

He was going so fast that he slammed into Sakura, toppling her over once again, she lay there winded for a second before letting out a pained groan, her back hurt like hell "Sorry Sakura, no time to need to hurry Midori is giving birth early" he rushed out.

Sakura stood and together the two headed towards the Inuzuka compound where loud howls of pain were coming from the vets building, Sakura healed her back and entered the room, Midori snarled at her and Sakura held out her arms to sooth the wolf.

"It hurts make it stop" Midori whined during a contraction and growled low in her throat when Hana ordered her to start pushing "You push" Midori bared her teeth and Hana gulped softly in fear, a wolf giving birth was much different than a regular dog.

"Midori, Hana is only trying to help" Sakura grimaced when the older female turned white a sheet and swayed on her feet, Midori lowered her head and let out a loud whine as another contraction hit but she pushed just as Hana had instructed her to do.

5 minutes later the first of the new snow wolves were born and then 5 minutes after that the second, it took 10 minutes for the third to appear because Midori was getting tired and then even longer for the fourth and then an hour for the last to appear.

The entire birthing process took a total of 2 hours, but Midori was proud of her new pups glad that her line would continue even when she was long gone, she wished that she didn't have to do this again but knew that Tsume would once again ask her to bare Akamaru's pups.

That moment Akamaru and Kiba entered the room and Akamaru trotted over to the basket that held the pups while Midori was getting cleaned up "They are beautiful" Akamaru barked and Sakura silently agreed with him.

He gently nudged them with his nose engraving their scent into his mind "I think I spotted the runt of the litter" Akamaru gestured towards the littlest of the 5 wolf pups, he was all brown with white spots the opposite of his father and mother.

"Well then this one is all yours Sakura-chan" Hana came out cleaning off her hands and Midori trotted over to her pups gave them one last lick and then let Hana take them away so that they could be given to a female that lost all of her pups she was still producing milk.

Sakura carefully wrapped the brown and white wolf pup into a blanket and knew Yukimaru would love this little guy, gave Kiba and Akamaru a wave and left the building, she headed down the streets to her house and opened the door only to get a face full of ferret.

Sasuke wrapped himself around Sakura's neck as she entered her bedroom, Midori who had been slowly trailing after her lay down in her bed and Sakura placed the pup on the bed and Midori quickly cleaned him before he started rooting around for food.

He found a nipple and quickly latched on making little suckling sounds "I have somethings to do will you be fine Midori" Sakura hesitated in leaving her companion alone and Midori nodded motioning for her to go about her business.

"The pup and I will be fine" Midori assured Sakura, who quickly rushed from the house Sasuke still curled around her neck as she ran down the streets towards the Nara compound where Shikamaru was sure to be.

Shikaku opened the door and ushered her in "Midori gave birth" Sakura blurted out and Shikamaru smiled only to snicker when he spotted Sasuke curled around her neck "Yeah I didn't want to disturb him" Sakura waved the laughter off and tried to sit down.

Keyword tried but the baby ferret Sakura had gifted to Yoshino screeched at her "Akako" Yoshino scolded from the kitchen and the ferret leaped into Shikamaru's lap not wanting to invoke her owners wrath, it only happened whenever she did something bad.

"Aren't you a good girl" Sakura scratched Akako's back and the kit enjoyed it so much that she switched laps "Aww your adorable" she laughed when Sasuke curled around the kit and they lay cuddled together until Yoshino entered the room.

"Come to join us for dinner again" Yoshino leaned against the doorway, Sakura shook her head and carefully shifted Akako back onto Shikamaru's lap before she stood Sasuke curled around her neck once again.

"Sorry I have to get back to my place and make sure Midori and her pup are doing ok and then I have to go pick up Yukimaru from the academy" Sakura explained, gave Shikamaru a hug and a kiss on the lips to his embarrassment and then left the compound.

She walked home slowly, so much had already happened today that she could barely keep up, becoming a jonin had thrown Sakura for a loop and then Midori just had to give birth early and now she had to make sure the pup was taken care of.

Hours later after picking up Yukimaru's things from Ino, Sakura headed to the academy to pick Yukimaru up on the way back to her house she told him she had a surprise for him "I didn't have anytime to buy you a souvenir but I think you'll like this gift better" Sakura winked at him.

"What is it" Yukimaru was curious, he wasn't angry that Sakura hadn't gotten him a souvenir from another village, but he was excited to see what she had for him, she must've gotten him something otherwise she wouldn't have said anything to him.

"You'll just have to wait until we get in" Sakura unlocked her door and then jumped back in surprise on the other side of the door was Kakashi and he was holding the little brown wolf pup in his arms 'Damn it he just ruined Yukimaru's surprise' Sakura sulked.

"Is this wolf pup for sale" Kakashi scratched the pup on the head and a soft whine emitted from him, Sakura sighed and gestured for Yukimaru to precede her into the house and then motioned for Kakashi to follow her into the kitchen.

"He's the runt of the litter, and I'm sorry Kakashi maybe the next litter, that little guy is going to Yukimaru" Sakura smiled at Yukimaru when he poked his head out of the bedroom, he had heard his name and wanted to know what was going on.

"Oh I see" Kakashi crinkled his eye at Sakura and handed over the little wolf pup "Well I'll be on my way" he had almost disappeared but Sakura quickly called out to him and he sat back down wanting to know what Sakura had to say.

"I promise the next litter Midori has one of the pups will go to you" Sakura repeated just to make sure Kakashi got it through his rather thick skull "And I was wondering where Yamato-san was" Sakura asked her question.

"Did you need him for something" Kakashi smiled at Yukimaru when he jumped into Sakura's lap of course he had been careful upon seeing the brown and white wolf pup and then he squealed in delight as Sakura placed the pup into Yukimaru's lap.

"No, it's just that he hasn't been coming around lately and I thought maybe I had done something to offend him" Sakura explained the reasoning behind her question and Kakashi nodded in understanding.

"He's actually been out of the village on a mission for the last month, bandit attacks have been happening in a village in lightning" Kakashi remarked offhandedly and Sakura frowned, she knew the village Kakashi mentioned and it worried her immensely.

After that Kakashi left and Sakura gestured for Yukimaru to sit in the now vacant chair "Now Yukimaru, you remember how we always had to be careful with Midori because she was going to have babies" Sakura questioned the 7 year old who nodded.

"Yes, Sakura-onee-chan" Yukimaru frowned in concern had something happened that he was unaware of Midori had looked ok even if she looked a little different than he remembered "Did Midori-chan give birth Onee-sama" Yukimaru asked and Sakura nodded.

"That's one of Midori's pups that she gave birth to" Sakura hid a smile when Yukimaru stared at the wolf pup in awe "And since I think your such a good boy, that little guy is yours on the condition you take care of him" Sakura warned, and Yukimaru nodded in understanding.

And then he let a breathtaking smile over take his face as he carefully cuddled the pup to his chest "You mean it Onee-chan, he's really mine" Yukimaru had to make sure Sakura wasn't lying about this and Sakura assured him that it was true.

"Do I get to name him as well" Yukimaru wanted to give him a good name Sakura nodded and he slowly looked the wolf pup over trying to think of something that he could name him after several minutes Yukimaru smiled.

"Your name will be Kanpecki" Yukimaru named his and Sakura raised an eyebrow she wondered what gave Yukimaru the idea to name him that, well it was out of her hands now and the pup would forever be named Kanpecki.

"That's a perfect name for him" Sakura instead smiled and started making dinner, Yukimaru entered the bedroom and placed Kanpecki with Midori who quickly sniffed him all over, and then Yukimaru went back into the kitchen.

He had a question he wanted to ask Sakura but he would wait until after his bath and they were cuddling in bed, he pouted because Midori wouldn't be snuggling with them but it was worth it because he had his own wolf to care for.

Once the dishes were washed by Yukimaru who had asked if he could and Sakura watched him carefully from her chair, not even a day had passed and Yukimaru was already behaving more responsible and she wondered what he was up to.

Sakura had learned that kids didn't do anything they liked unless they wanted to butter up their parents and ask them for the impossible, she remembered how she had acted and so she was slightly suspicious when Yukimaru again asked if he could feed Sasuke.

It wasn't that Yukimaru didn't like the large ferret, it's just that since Sasuke favored Sakura more Yukimaru often just stayed away from him, though once Sasuke was fed and watered and he was munching away on his food Yukimaru confused her again.

"It's ok Onee-chan I can run my own bath" he gave her a sweet smile and entered the bathroom, Sakura had to wonder again, what had happened to make Yukimaru act so different to his usual self, sure he loved baths but he hated chores much like she had when she was younger.

30 minutes later Yukimaru exited the bathroom dressed in his pajamas and approached Sakura cautiously, he couldn't put this off anymore "Onee-chan can I ask for something" his cheeks turned pink as he pushed his fingers together nervously like he had seen Tsukiko do.

It was so adorable that Sakura completely forgot that she had known all along that Yukimaru wanted something "Go ahead Yukimaru" Sakura gave him the go ahead and waited to see what he would ask for.

"May I have my own room" the words tumbled from Yukimaru's mouth, the boy turned a bright red and then clamped his hand over his mouth, that was not how he had wanted to ask but he couldn't take back the words now.

Sakura blinked and then blinked again before bursting out laughing "So that was so not what I expected, I had thought maybe it was something completely different" Sakura patted Yukimaru on the head when he huffed at her angrily.

"It's ok Yukimaru, I'm not angry it's just that I wondered when you would ask for your own room" Sakura shrugged when he stared at her his jaw hung open in confusion "Remember how I always tell you not to go up into the attic" Sakura asked instead.

Yukimaru nodded the few times he had wanted to explore the house Sakura would never let him anywhere near the attic, she claimed that she was working on something and forbid him from going in anytime he asked.

"You can go up there now" Sakura smiled and he scrambled up the steps, Yukimaru let out a little gasp when he realized that it had been transformed into a room not just any room but one for him and ran over to his own bed jumping in.

A moment later he stood up and looked around, he spotted a little door and opened it carefully, it held a bathtub, a small wooden sink and a toilet Yukimaru spotted some cabinets and looked through them finding towels and wash cloths.

Exiting the bathroom he spotted a dresser and found it full of his clothes before he walked slowly down the steps and shut the hatch it was like his own personal paradise and Yukimaru didn't want to leave it but he had to thank Sakura.

"Thank you Onee-chan" Yukimaru gave her a cute little bow before wrapping his arms around her waist and gave her a huge hug "Goodnight Sakura-onee-chan" Yukimaru called and walked back up the stairs to his room and shut the hatch.

He climbed into his bed and then he thought of something but he didn't want to disturb Sakura as she called out a goodnight to him, Yukimaru heard Sakura flick the lights out, he tried to fall asleep and finally he did.

That night Sakura laid down in her bed alone for the first time and she felt well alone, she had gotten so used to cuddling with Yukimaru and Midori that it was a little difficult to get used to having her bed to herself again.

She must've been shifting restlessly before Midori jumped into the bed after making sure Kanpecki was sound asleep and curled around Sakura, who smiled and drifted off to sleep after a stroking Midori's fur a few times.


	8. Suzumebachi's Tales of Seduction

It all started when Suzumebachi had veered off to talk with Hidan that day a month and a half ago, she started by taking Hidan's arm and holding it tightly against her chest, she smirked when Hidan glanced at her.

"Hello Hidan" Suzumebachi fluttered her lashes and licked her lips to wet them, his attention was immediately draw to the flash of pink and Hidan gulped feeling her breasts against his arm "What's the matter cat got your tongue" she gave him an impish smile.

Hidan shook his head to rid it of the naughty thoughts that wanted to consume him, for jashins sake this was Yukina's kid sister, granted Suzumebachi was no longer the bright eyed child she had once been, instead she had turned into a voluptuous woman with gentle curves.

"No, and hello to you to Suzumebachi" Hidan grinned at her and then felt his heart speed up when she jutted out her lip to make herself look innocent "So what brings you around to these parts of town" he gestured to the area and Suzumebachi mentally groaned.

Of course Hidan had to be extremely thick headed and clueless about women "Well I thought I'd pay you a visit and see how you were doing" Suzumebachi trailed her hand slowly up his arm and once more fluttered her lashes at him.

Hidan felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment, here he was being felt up by a pretty girl and he couldn't even get passed the fact that he used to babysit her, once again he remembered she was no longer a child.

"Well you saw me and now I have to go" Hidan gently removed Suzumebachi from his arm and took off down the street, he completely missed the cat like smile that spread over Suzumebachi's lips as he fled from her.

"This is only the beginning" she rubbed her hands together and cackled, this gained Kakuzu's attention as he had been left behind by Hidan, he was silently chuckling, his ex partner had no idea what was about to hit him it seemed.

The next time Suzumebachi saw Hidan it was on the training field, he was shirtless and she saw her chance to get a little flirting in before he fled from her again, swaying her hips flirtatiously drawing other mens eyes she gracefully glided over to Hidan.

He hadn't seen Suzumebachi approaching and so when he turned he got quite the eyeful, his pink eyes trailed up until they settled on the womans face, Hidan swallowed thickly, what the hell was Suzumebachi wearing.

"Last time you left so fast it hurt my feelings Hidan" Suzumebachi pouted at him, as she was extremely beautiful this looked cute on her and Hidan grimaced "I'm sure you didn't mean to but it happened" she internally smirked when she saw his guilty expression.

"I'm sorry Suzumebachi but I really did have something to do" Hidan hadn't lied about that part and hoped he could convince Suzumebachi of this as well, his body tensed as she pressed herself against his sweaty back.

"Apology accepted" Suzumebachi grinned and ran her hands over the back muscles "You certainly have gotten a few more muscles" she giggled silently as Hidan chuckled nervously and then tried to pry her from his back.

She danced out of the way of sweaty hands laughing teasingly at him "Come and catch me Hidan" Suzumebachi walked away swaying her hips and beckoning him with her finger before taking off across the field.

When she looked back she scowled fiercely Hidan had hurriedly put his shirt on sealed his scythe in his scroll and once again fled 'Damn it why isn't this working' Suzumebachi took a deep breath, it was only the second time she had tried seducing him.

The third time she saw Hidan was in the store he was buying a large pack of steaks, her eyes widened in remembrance and decided to take a different approach today instead of shamelessly flirting she would strike up a normal conversation.

"Sakura told me the truth when she said you like steak" Suzumebachi didn't look at him instead she grabbed up a package of chicken legs before setting them down to finally glance at him, hoping beyond hope that he hadn't fled while she was distracted.

Hidan was still standing next to her but his jaw was slightly dropped open in surprise, he hadn't expected her to appear, again out of the blue, and then strike up a conversation with him much less about his favorite food.

"Ah it's the truth, Sakura's made me plenty of steaks in the past and I've never quite managed to make one just like hers, maybe I'll go visit her and the kid sometime in the future and have her cook dinner like the old days" Hidan chuckled.

"How about I make your favorite juice I've got a large juicy watermelon with your name on it" Suzumebachi held up the watermelon and Hidan felt his mouth water, how long had it been since he'd had a cup of the delicious drink he had a liking for.

"I'm sorry Suzumebachi, I'm going to have to turn that offer down today" Hidan held up his hand missing her sigh of exasperation and then walked away so that he could pay for his groceries and then go home and cook dinner.

Suzumebachi wanted to tear her hair out, what would it take for Hidan to finally notice her like she wanted him to, either he knew what she was doing and was turning her down on purpose for some reason, or he was extremely clueless about the opposite sex.

Somehow she didn't think it was the latter so it had to be the former and she slapped her palm against her forehead "Don't think I'm going to stop chasing you Hidan" Suzumebachi shouted at his retreating form, this caused people in the store to give her wary looks.

The fourth time she saw Hidan, the silver haired jashinist quite literally ran into her "So good of you to run into me" she flashed him a pretty smile and his cheeks flushed when he realized the awkward position they were laying in.

"Sorry in a hurry" Hidan jumped up but took the time to make sure she was stood properly before running down the street and Suzumebachi pouted, he hadn't given her a chance to talk to him before he ran away again.

It was a little later that day, when Hidan stopped in front of Suzumebachi, he was holding a bundle of pretty flowers and a box of dango "It's an extention of the apology from when I ran into you this morning" Hidan gave her a wave and disappeared.

Suzumebachi set down the flowers and dango before throwing her arms up in the air as frustration officially set in, he hadn't even let her talk, if Hidan thought he was going to get away with this he was so wrong.

The fifth time the two saw each other Suzumebachi took hold of his arm once again but this time didn't press it against her body instead she leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked in silence.

'Ok this is a strange attempt' Hidan was wary every time he had seen the brunette woman lately she had tried flirting with him, he had thwarted every attempt so far and it was wearing down on him and he knew sooner or later he would give in.

But first he wanted to see how far Suzumebachi would go to get him to like her back, to be honest he had liked her for a long while, but some small voice in the back of his head told him that it was wrong to go after his godchilds aunt.

"You know Hidan, I've noticed that you haven't spent much time with Sakura lately" Suzumebachi's voice drew him from his thoughts as she finally spoke to him once they had been walking for several minutes of course.

"We've both been a little to busy to schedule a time were we can visit with one another, and I was just sent on a mission with her not to long ago" Hidan gave her a friendly smile and Suzumebachi blinked in surprise, it was the first time he had smiled at her.

Suzumebachi lifted her head from his shoulder this she considered progress so she once again tried to flirt a little bit with him "I bought that watermelon if your still interested in having some watermelon juice" she fluttered her lashes at him.

"Sure but later if that's alright, I promised to spar with Kisame a bit today" Hidan gave Suzumebachi another smile and then walked off with a wave in her direction before he turned the corner and was out of sight.

'At least he didn't run like last time' Suzumebachi sighed 'And at least he accepted my offer instead of turning it down like he did before' she perked up, maybe there was hope for her yet, it definitely seemed to her that Hidan did have feelings for her.

She honestly hadn't expected him to really turn up at her house, her brothers were conspicuously absent "Well come on in Hidan" Suzumebachi invited Hidan in and he quickly took of his shoes before they padded across the floor and into the kitchen.

"Thank you for inviting me, hey maybe someday you can teach Sakura some old family recipes" Hidan sat at the table and watched Suzumebachi shuffle around the kitchen gathering ingredients and then pulling the watermelon from her fridge.

"It's true, Sakura has a lot to learn about her family heritage and I'm definitely more than willing to teach her" Suzumebachi looked up from where she was cutting the watermelon into pieces so that she could juice them.

"Perhaps you can give her the bees your famous for, I mean isn't it like her right" Hidan questioned, to be honest he really didn't know much about the inner workings of the Kamizuru clan even though Yukina had been his best friend Hidan had never asked.

"Oh that's right, since Sakura is still alive that means she's the head of the Kamizuru clan" Suzumebachi looked up after added some honey to the juice and then some sugar before pouring Hidan a glass.

"Really Sakura is the head of the clan" Hidan took a sip and groaned "This is the best watermelon juice I've had in forever" he took another sip as Suzumebachi propped her head up on her hands and gave him a smile.

His cheeks flushed "Back to your question, yes Sakura will be the head once she comes into adulthood, besides I think it's time the Kamizuru clan was revived to its fullest" Suzumebachi leaned forward and bit her lip.

Hidan's gaze was drawn to her lips and it was like something was pulling him towards Suzumebachi, their breaths were mingling and Suzumebachi's heart was pounding as they got so close to actually kissing.

When the door to the house creaked open Hidan bolted away from her as if struck by lightning, he realized how close he had actually been to the woman, chugged the rest of his watermelon juice down and before Suzumebachi could stop him he transported from the house.

A moment later Kurobachi entered the kitchen and Suzumebachi glared at him "I was this close to getting what I wanted" she hissed and held out her fingers when her older brother flinched back in surprise, he hadn't been expecting this level of hostility when he got home.

"Sorry sis, I didn't realize Hidan was here otherwise I would have stayed with Jibachi at the bar" Kurobachi slapped his hands over his mouth, Jibachi had told him not to tell Suzumebachi where he was and he had spilled the beans.

Suzumebachi let out a shriek of fury "So that's where you two idiots have been all day" her blue eyes were narrowed with an angry glint and killing intent flowed from her in waves as Suzumebachi stalked over to Kurobachi and whacked the back of his head.

"Ugh" Kurobachi went down holding his head as it throbbed and ached, he hadn't been whacked in months because being in a village again had massively calmed Suzumebachi down but now here they were again all because he had to open him mouth like an idiot.

"Wait a second if you've been at the bar all day, how come you don't reek of alcohol" Suzumebachi gave the air around him a sniff and didn't smell the stench that usually accompanied her two brothers whenever they snuck off.

"I didn't drink and Jibachi had only had 2 small glasses when I left him" Kurobachi eyed his sister warily as she put a hand on her hip and stared at him in open surprise "What is it" Kurobachi was hesitant to ask but he was curious.

"Huh, well it seems that you two have learned a bit of restraint, I guess I can let this go only because you didn't go overboard like usual" Suzumebachi reached down and helped Kurobachi to his feet where he stood stunned by her mature response.

Jibachi just happened to walk in that moment, in the commotion, neither had heard the front door open and shut, his eyes held fear because he knew that Suzumebachi knew where he and Kurobachi had been all day.

But Suzumebachi remained silent, Jibachi flinched back as she gave him a smile and walked over to the counter that still held the remaining watermelon juice and put it into the fridge for safe keeping and then disappeared down the hall to her room.

"Did that really just happen" Jibachi blinked in surprise, he had expected Suzumebachi to whack him not smile, either the village had done her good or something fishy was going on, but he would keep his nose out of her business if it meant a pain free day.

The next day Suzumebachi grabbed the juice and set out to find Hidan, thanks to following him just about everyday, she knew exactly where he would be and sure enough there Hidan was walking with Kakuzu once again only this time he wouldn't be getting away.

Kakuzu spotted her first and a smirk spread across his lips as Suzumebachi set her sights on Hidan, he wouldn't be the one to warn him of the woman that seemed determined to catch him and make Hidan hers.

Her blue eyes were gleaming with determination as her voluptuous hips swayed back and forth, her short kimono was clean showing off her delicate shoulders and long legs, her feet were encased in black heeled sandals as Suzumebachi stalked forward.

"Hello Hidan" Suzumebachi purred in his ear causing the silver haired man to stumble over his feet and swing around, his eyes were wide and his pink irises were focused on her "You left so quickly yesterday that I didn't get to give this to you" she held up the pitcher of juice.

"Oh well I thought that maybe you were going to drink it" Hidan scratched the back of his head nervously, perhaps he shouldn't have went yesterday then he wouldn't be in this mess, yeah he had finally realized that he liked her and it appeared that Suzumebachi wanted him to.

"Nope this is all for you, and Hidan this time there will be no running away, I know you know what I want and I think you like me to so why don't we just stop going circles around each other and just get together" Suzumebachi's smile widened when he took a step back.

She followed him until Hidan was trapped against a wall, Kakuzu had disappeared sometime ago which made it that much easier for Suzumebachi to get it through Hidan's thick head that it wouldn't be wrong to indulge in your likes sometimes.

"Suzumebachi it doesn't matter if I like you or not it's still wro..." Hidan tried to explain why but Suzumebachi was no longer going to take no for an answer, stood on her tippy toes, wrapped her arms around Hidan's neck and cut him off mid sentence by pressing their lips together.

Hidan sighed into the kiss and just gave in to his desires by pulling the woman closer a moment later they separated "Alright fine I give this has been going on for over a week and I can no longer stop myself" Hidan rolled his eyes when Suzumebachi smiled at him.

"Glad you finally see it my way" Suzumebachi wouldn't admit it but this was her last resort, but she was glad that his admittance gave her the confidence boost she needed and pressed another kiss to his lips before finally pulling away completely.

"Sakura's a lot like you in that she doesn't give up on things she wants" Hidan wrapped his around Suzumebachi's shoulders as they walked down the street to his apartment Hidan grinned when she leaned her head against his arm.

"She's got the Kamizuru fire in her, our clan is strong and it will become stronger with her at it's helm, we are heading into a new era, no longer are the Aburames our enemy instead the Kamizuru clan will be their allies" Suzumebachi agreed with Hidan.

"Are you sure that Sakura will be up to the task of becoming clan head" Hidan didn't want the pinkette to get hurt, he had seen how some of the elders treated her in the Aburame clan just for being different.

"Yes, every disagreement will be taken care of by her, Sakura will be making all of the decisions" Suzumebachi could understand Hidan's worry and concern, but when the clan was revived things would be massively different.

"As long as she doesn't get hurt" Hidan gestured for Suzumebachi to wait as he unlocked the front door to his apartment and then motioned her in, the two settled on the couch wrapped up in each others arms.

From then on the two went on dates and became inseparable, so much so that Suzumebachi moved in with Hidan, neither had told Sakura about their relationship and wondered how the pink haired girl they cared for would take it.


	9. Sakura's Request

Since that night over a week ago, Sakura and Yukimaru had settled into a new routine, in their own rooms, now instead of Sakura giving Yukimaru a bath the little boy would bathe in his bathroom and dress before coming down to help Sakura.

He would start by setting the kitchen table before going into her room and checking on Kanpecki, he would give the little wolf some attention before settling him back down with Midori and then he would run a brush through Midori's fur.

Midori loved it of course, and then she would get a treat before Sakura called her in for breakfast, Sasuke of course would also get some pampering and the ferret would dook excitedly when Yukimaru handed over a treat as well.

After that he would go in and eat breakfast with Sakura and then do the dishes, once they were finished and put away by Sakura Yukimaru would turn to her "Sakura-onee-chan do you think we can practice in the training room today" he would ask her sweetly.

"Of course" Sakura couldn't refuse the little boy anything and so they would go into the training room and practice, this included penmanship, weapons training and aiming at a now moving target and then jutsu training until Yukimaru was ready to go to the academy.

Except instead of Sakura taking him to the academy, Yukimaru would give her a little wave, take the bento she had made him and leave the house to walk to the academy by himself, it made Sakura a little sad 'Kids grow up way to fast' she sulked.

With all the extra time on her hands now, Sakura figured she would go find Suzumebachi she had some questions to ask her aunt and uncles and so she left the house after making sure Midori, Sasuke and Kanpecki would be fine.

A few blocks away from the house her family resided in, Sakura ran into her two uncles and was surprised that Suzumebachi wasn't with them, when she enquired about her whereabouts, Jibachi gave a her a surprised look.

"I thought you knew" he shared a look with Kurobachi when Sakura shook her head "Well she moved out a week ago and she's living with Hidan" Jibachi explained, Sakura gave him a confused frown.

"When did all of this happen and how come I wasn't told, I mean if they were going to get together the least the two of them could do is tell me" Sakura was a little upset with Hidan and Suzumebachi for hiding something as important as their newfound relationship from her.

"They wanted to tell you but they couldn't figure out how to broach the subject and not to mention we've all been a little busy" Kurobachi felt the shift in Sakura's mood immediately and tried to sooth her.

"Well I guess I'll just go pay them a visit" Sakura brightened, gave the two men a wave and before they could stop her walked down the street and turned a corner until she was out of sight, a few minutes later she spotted the two entering Hidan's house.

"Oba-san, Hidan" she called out and the two froze before turning around sporting matching guilty expressions "Nevermind that I already know about your relationship and yeah I'm a little upset you hadn't told me but I'll get over it" Sakura rattled off and they gave sighs of relief.

"What brings you over today, usually your watching the kid, Yukimaru wasn't it" Hidan was curiously normally she went off to perform some low level missions before going to the academy to pick Yukimaru up.

"Well this morning he didn't want me to walk him and he said that he would walk back by himself, so I suddenly have some free time" Sakura explained and followed Hidan and Suzumebachi into the house before sitting on the couches.

"Like I said nevermind any of that I want to know about two men that claim they are family, one has obviously fake pink hair and the other I don't know what he looks like, they were the ones that killed mom" Sakura wouldn't be detered she wanted to know the truth.

"Oh no if those two are back then that means trouble for the rest of the Kamizuru clan" Suzumebachi looked like she had eaten something sour "Don't worry Sakura, I'll tell you everything you want to know" she held up a hand to halt the questions.

"They are our uncles, so technically your great uncles, two elders from the Kamizuru clan, Itsumo and Ritsu" Suzumebachi held out a picture after her explanation that held the two men together in the tiny frame.

"Why did they take me away from mom and kill her" Sakura blurted out the next question and Suzumebachi gave her a sad smile "What is it" Sakura asked next after seeing her expression and the sadness in Suzumebachi's blue eyes.

"They thought she had turned to evil ways, but really all of our troubles had practically vanished once she became a jashinist and then they thought you were a demon child" Suzumebachi grew angry when she remembered all that the two men had taken away from her.

"The two need to be stopped because they are stirring up trouble and messing with people I care about" Sakura wouldn't let on how pissed she really was and since she was a jonin Sakura could fill out her own mission and go on it.

"Your going to go hunt them down aren't you Sakura" Hidan knew that look in Sakura's eyes it usually led to her doing something extremely risky when she nodded her head Hidan leaned back with a loud groan.

"I won't let a repeat happen from what happened to Sasuke" most of Sakura's strength came from the desire to always protect her loved ones and when Sakura put her mind to something she usually came out on top.

"I'm not gonna stop you" Hidan gave her a smile and nudged Suzumebachi in the side when she was about to protest, she didn't approve of his reckless decision and huffed angrily at him and Hidan gave Suzumebachi a sheepish grin.

After that the conversation filtered off into other things, a couple hours later after, making the couple lunch, Sakura fully approved of their relationship now that she was no longer upset about them not telling her, she left to take care of the rest of her self assigned mission.

Sakura crossed town and went up the steps leading into the Hokage Tower "Is the Hokage free" she asked the receptionist who nodded and gestured for Sakura to go on ahead, she went down the hall and knocked on the door that lead to Tsunade's office.

Tsunade called out to her and she opened the door "Sakura what brings you here today, decided that it's too hard to take care of the kid and want to send him to a better family because there is someone that wants to adopt him" she was only half joking but Sakura didn't know that.

"I do not regret taking care of Yukimaru and as soon as I turn 18 I'll be adopting him myself, but no that's not the reason I've come for a visit today Lady Tsunade" Sakura sat in one of the empty chairs and took a deep breath.

"You sure you want to adopt the kid and if not then why have you come in to see me" Tsunade was confused, she hadn't thought that Sakura wanted the responsibility of a kid and yet here she was already taking care of Yukimaru and now she wanted to adopt him.

"I would like to make a request" Sakura sat up straight in her chair to stare Tsunade right into her honey brown eyes, Tsunade nodded and motioned for Sakura to speak "Two men are trying to make my life difficult so I would like to leave the village for awhile" Sakura rattled off.

"How long will you be gone and what about Yukimaru and your animals" Tsunade narrowed her eyes thinking that she had Sakura backed into a corner but she was about to get a surprise from Sakura's response.

"A month at the most, I would like to request Yukimaru come with me, I mean he is supposed to be my apprentice and Sasuke, Midori and Kanpecki will be going with us" Sakura quirked her eyebrow at Tsunade in challenge.

"You'll need to fill out a leave of absence at the academy for Yukimaru, on the promise that you'll continue teaching him the things he needs to learn until all of you return" Tsunade agreed and handed over a pile of papers.

Sakura let out a sigh but filled out everything that she needed for her month long leave from the village before handing them back over to Tsunade, who looked them over and handed her a scroll "If your not back in a month you'll be considered a deserter of the village" she warned.

"I understand" Sakura smiled at Tsunade, even though she still liked to rile the woman up, she truly did like the blonde and so in a move that surprised Tsunade, Sakura quickly walked around the desk and pulled Tsunade into a hug.

She gave the blonde a cheeky smile and disappeared in a swirl of cherry blossoms before Tsunade could whack her over her head like usual, once outside the tower Sakura headed to the academy to fill out the paperwork for Yukimaru.

After she was finished with that Sakura noted the time and figured she had a few hours left before Yukimaru came home so she went shopping, she bought some food items that could be easily cooked and warmer clothes for Yukimaru.

Then she went home and packed two bags one for her and one for Yukimaru, then she went to speak with Midori "We'll be leaving the village for a month, you, Kanpecki and Sasuke will be going with Yukimaru and I" Sakura explained when Midori lifted her head to stare at her.

"It will be good to get out of the village and get some exercise" Midori yawned and then laid her head back down to get some more rest, conversation over Sakura went into the kitchen to make Yukimaru's favorite food so that she could warm him up to the idea of leaving the village.

Just as she was setting the table the door opened and suddenly she had an arm full of little boy a second later she felt wetness on her neck from where Yukimaru had pressed his head "What's wrong Yukimaru" Sakura pulled him back so that she could look at him.

"Yume-chan is leaving and never coming back" Yukimaru's lip wobbled as more tears slid down his cheeks, he had gone to the academy today and was met by Tsukiko and Yume the latter of which told him that she was moving to a different village called the sand village.

"Oh you poor sweety, you'll always make another friend and it's not like we can't go visit her" Sakura offered so that Yukimaru would stop crying, it was truly a heartbreaking situation for a little kid who had made friends with the blue-red eyed girl.

"Really we can go visit Yume-chan whenever I want and Tsukiko-chan can come with us" Yukimaru's eyes lit up and he gave her a heartbreaking smile, Sakura could help but squeeze him tightly to her before giving him the answer he wanted.

"Yes, Yukimaru anytime you wanted and well that would be up to Tsukiko-chan's parents" Sakura smiled and wiped his tears away, she had met the grey haired girl several times over the months and she was an absolute sweetheart and not to mention extremely polite.

It was then that Yukimaru spied what they would be having for dinner that night and he quickly forgot all about what had him previously upset, he could think on it at a later time "Thank you Sakura-onee-sama" Yukimaru smiled happily at her and then sat in his chair.

"After dinner we have to talk about a few things Yukimaru" Sakura told him before sitting down and taking a bite of the chicken before devouring the rest of her food when the dishes were once again clean thanks to Yukimaru they made their way into the living room to sit.

"What's the matter onee-chan do you not want me anymore" Yukimaru's little mind automatically jumped to his worst nightmare and Sakura was quick to reassure him that it was about something entirely different.

"I will always want you, Yukimaru and that's one of the things I have to talk to you about, right now I'm to young but when I turn 18 I'll be a legal adult" Sakura started out slowly to give Yukimaru some time to process what she was hinting at.

"So what are you saying onee-sama" Yukimaru was having a little trouble comprehending what that would mean for them and so he decided to just ask and hope that Sakura would be able to explain it better.

"It means Yukimaru that I will be able to adopt you, if that is what you want, and then I'll be your mother" Sakura clenched her eyes shut and waited for Yukimaru to throw a tantrum about how he didn't want her to be his mom.

"Do you mean that you really be my kaa-chan" Yukimaru felt his eyes well up with tears of happiness, to be honest he thought Sakura would be the best mother in the world and he had wanted to ask if he could call her that long ago but he could never work up the courage to do so.

Sakura's eyes popped open in surprise and she quickly nodded her head "That's right Yukimaru" Sakura smiled when his face lit up in happiness and he quickly jumped up from his chair to sit in her lap sideways so that he could hug her.

"Is that all onee-sama" Yukimaru couldn't wait to brag to the other children that sometimes teased him about not having parents, that's when he thought of something "Does that make Shikamaru my otou-san" Yukimaru enquired innocently.

Sakura nearly choked on her spit when she heard the question fall from Yukimaru's lips "Uh that would be up to Shikamaru if he wanted to sign his name on the certificate" Sakura explained nervously to the little boy in her lap.

"And no there is a couple more things we have to talk about" Sakura released a deep breath when Yukimaru once again took the chair across from her and perched on the edge of the seat waiting to hear what else Sakura had to say.

"Today I went and talked to Tsunade to see about a mission request" here she paused because Yukimaru slid back into the chair with a sulk and groaned loudly "And she has granted the two of us permission to leave the village for a month" Sakura finished and flashed him a teasing smile.

Yukimaru sat up in the chair and stared at her in surprise "But what about classes and Midori-chan, Kanpecki, and Sasuke" Yukimaru listed it's not that he was opposed to leaving the village with Sakura it's just he was a little reluctant to leave the animals behind.

"I've gotten a detailed report from all of your teachers that explains everything you'll be learning in the next four weeks as long as I teach you in their stead, you'll be fine and they will be coming with us" Sakura grinned when Yukimaru pumped his arm in the air excitedly.

Over the months Yukimaru had begun taking after her and exhibiting things she used to do as a child "Awesome-sauce" and then another surprise came as he said her favorite thing to say "Goodnight onee-sama" Yukimaru called and disappeared up the stairs.

The minute Yukimaru was gone from the room a loud knock came and Sakura rose from her seat and walked to the front door when she opened it she found an assortment of people and she quickly invited them in.

"Hello Dad, Shino, Kakashi-san, Yamato-san, and Shikamaru-kun" Sakura blinked as they took a seat on her furniture and with no where else left to sit, Sakura situated herself in Shikamaru's lap not that her boyfriend minded it.

"So what brings you 5 over tonight" Sakura was confused usually none of them visited so late and looking at the clock it told her that it was passed her usual bedtime, she knew that Yukimaru was either taking another bath or already sleeping.

"We heard that you were leaving the village for a month and thought that we would all drop by and give you and Yukimaru a little gift to help you" Shino was the one that explained the reason for their visit and Sakura burst out laughing.

"I thought it was something much more serious" she breathed a sigh of relief and snuggled back into Shikamaru's arms as he wrapped them around her waist and pulled her closer so that he could rest his chin on her shoulder and she could lean her head back.

"Where is the kid" Kakashi looked around for the little boy that usually stuck to Sakura's side like glue and didn't find him anywhere of course this caused the others to look around for Yukimaru before turning to Sakura to find out.

"Last week he asked for his own room and so he has the attic, he might come back down and tell me goodnight again or he might just go to sleep if he hasn't already" Sakura explained and pointed her finger upwards.

Of course Yukimaru chose to come down the stairs and freaked out a little when he saw all the people in the living room so he carefully slunk into the room and climbed into the remaining half of Shikamaru's lap to huddle against Sakura's side in fear.

Sakura hadn't missed the fear in Yukimaru's magenta eyes, large groups of kids he could handle, but a group of adults he couldn't it was baffling and the month long absence from the village wouldn't help him any either.

"I'm ok onee-sama" Yukimaru knew that Sakura was concerned about him, but he didn't want her to worry, he would be just fine as long as he stayed close to her "Really" Yukimaru gave Sakura a smile and huddled closer.

"We've got some gifts for you Yukimaru" Shibi spoke this time and gave him a small smile, he honestly liked the kid Sakura was taking care of, it reminded him so much of when he took Sakura in granted she was a little younger than Yukimaru.

"Gifts for Onee-sama and me" Yukimaru guessed and Shibi nodded "Is this about us leaving the village for a month" Yukimaru was surprisingly perceptive tonight and Sakura wondered where it was all coming from.

"Your right, but it's also Sakura's 17th birthday tonight and all of us nearly forgot about it" Shikamaru admitted guiltily and Sakura blinked in confusion, she had forgotten that it was her birthday to because she had been so busy that day.

"It's ok really you guys, because to be honest I completely forgot it was my birthday hehe" Sakura laughed sheepishly when the others rolled their eyes in exasperation before they started handing over the gifts.

When everything was unwrapped and then sealed away in scrolls and put in the bags that Sakura had packed earlier everyone except for Shikamaru started leaving the home after a round of hugs when Sakura thought of a question she wanted to ask Yamato.

"Yamato-san can I ask a favor of you" Sakura called out stopping the man before he exited her house, when Yamato turned and waited for Sakura to ask him for whatever it was she wanted him to do it was probably something that he could make out of his wood.

"It doesn't have to be now but in the backyard could you make one of your wood houses so that I can set up a bigger training room and clear out the spare to remake it as a spare bedroom" Sakura explained and Yamato nodded.

"Of course Sakura-san" Yamato tipped his head in her direction before directing a smile at Shikamaru and Yukimaru who remained seated and then exited the house leaving Sakura, Shikamaru and Yukimaru alone.

"It's time for you to get up to bed Yukimaru" Sakura gestured for the little boy and he quickly gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek before running up the steps to his room the hatch clicked closed a moment later.

Once she was sure he wouldn't be coming back down Sakura turned to Shikamaru with a grin and pulled him up from the chair before ushering the both of them into the bedroom where they flopped down on the bed together.

Some passionate kisses followed as they wrapped their arms around one another before Midori jumped into the bed and curled around the two and all three of them fell asleep, two of them wanted to get as much sleep as possible before they left.

The next morning a delicious aroma wafted through the open bedroom, Sakura woke and patted the bed to find Shikamaru still sleeping next to her, if it wasn't Shikamaru then who was it that was making food in the kitchen.

Sakura slid from the bed being careful not to wake Shikamaru and padded across her wood floor quietly so that she could sneak into the kitchen to find out who was in her home, when she glanced around the wall that lead into the kitchen Sakura held back a gasp.

A wide smile spread across her lips before she snuck back into her bedroom to wake Shikamaru he needed to see this "Wake up" Sakura pushed him from the bed and onto the floor she had tried for 2 minutes and finally resorted to drastic measures.

Shikamaru woke with a groan as his back collided with the floor he looked up into mischievous emerald green eyes "You have to come see this" Sakura pulled him up by the hand but didn't let go as they snuck through the house to peek into the kitchen together.

Yukimaru was still in there standing on the stool that she normally pulled out for him to stand on when he asked to do the dishes, scrambled eggs were cooking in her skillet and little sausage patties were frying in another pan.

Yukimaru had poked his tongue out in concentration as he made up the batter for pancakes, his eggs and sausages were cooking but he wanted to make something a little harder to impress Sakura and show that he could make food to.

Reading the recipe Yukimaru made sure to add just the right amount before removing the scrambled eggs from the heat so that he could pour the pancake batter into the pan, he let it cook the recommended amount of time before flipping it.

Once all the food was cooked, he turned off the stove and opened a window so that the room would air out while the smoke was flowing from the kitchen he hopped up on a counter to pull out three plates and the settings.

He arranged the plate settings and the plates on the table like Sakura usually did, before placing silverware down and then cups, he filled them with water and then started plating the food, Yukimaru headed out of the room only to bump into Sakura in surprise.

"Good Morning Onee-sama, Shikamaru-nii-san" Yukimaru greeted before taking their hands "I made breakfast" he hoped Sakura didn't react badly to his admission, he had wanted to surprise two of his precious people since it would be awhile until they'd be back.

"We saw and I'm extremely" Sakura trailed off and watched Yukimaru closely as his shoulders slumped as if he was expecting her to get angry "Proud of you Yukimaru, what a grown up thing you did for us" she finished and pulled the 7 year old into a hug.

Yukimaru pulled out the chairs for Sakura and Shikamaru and struggled to push them in like a gentleman should before he squeezed into his chair and motioned for Sakura and Shikamaru to start eating before digging into his own food.

"Where did you learn to cook like this Yukimaru" Sakura was surprised, either Yukimaru had been getting private lessons from someone or he just had an aptitude for cooking, much like she did either way it would give Sakura something else to teach the boy over the month.

"I didn't, I just followed the recipe in your book" Yukimaru gave her a cheeky smile as his magenta eyes sparkled innocently "The eggs and sausage were easy but the pancakes proved a harder challenge" he explained when Sakura wanted to know if it was hard to make breakfast.

Just then the front door swung open and Hidan along with her aunt and uncles charged in "Sorry I can't believe I forgot it was your birthday yesterday" Hidan panted and held out a neatly wrapped gift for Sakura to take.

"It's ok Hidan a lot of people forgot even I forgot" Sakura smiled but took the gift and sealed it away with a promise to check it out later, once she did that Suzumebachi handed her a scroll and then Jibachi and Kurobachi also gave her a gift.

Sakura sealed those away and her family pouted "You seem like your in a hurry" Hidan was the first to notice her anxiousness and then ask, this caused the other three to notice that Sakura was tapping her foot.

"Well thanks for asking Hidan, Yukimaru and I will be leaving the village for 1 month along with Midori, Kanpecki and Sasuke" Sakura gave the silver haired jashinist a smile when he stared at her with a dumbfounded expression.

"How come you didn't tell us that when we saw you yesterday and your only a chunin" Hidan pouted and then he accused her, narrowing his eyes in confusion when Sakura bursts out laughing and Shikamaru starts chuckling.

Actually a couple weeks ago I was given a jonin test and passed with flying colors" Sakura explained "And if I'm not mistaken Naruto had one just last week and also passed so now we are jonin together" Sakura turned a questioning stare on Shikamaru and he nodded.

After that the four cleared from the house and Yukimaru picked up Kanpecki and settled atop Midori as they walked through the village, Sasuke had wrapped himself around Sakura's neck which made her wear her headband around her waist.

Along the way through town people gave them waves, everyone knew that she was leaving for the month, it was just as they reached the gates that Naruto came flying around a corner when he spotted Sakura he charged forward until he stood in her way.

"Granny Tsunade just assigned me on your mission, I've already packed so don't worry about that" Naruto panted out before he righted himself and waited for Sakura or Yukimaru to complain about him coming along.

"Ok that will make it easier on us" Sakura shared a smile with Yukimaru when the little boy eagerly nodded "Besides I'm sure that there are things that you'd like to learn as well" Sakura grinned when Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Come on Naruto we can't dawdle any longer and we need to gain as much distance as possible" Sakura motioned for Naruto to walk next to her as Midori and Yukimaru atop Midori took her other side and they continued on their way through the gates.


	10. First Week Part 1

"Hey Sakura, how come your leaving the village anyway" Naruto spoke up after they had been walking for 3 hours already headed in the direction of the Rain Village, she had a contact there and wanted to speak with him face to face.

"Because Naruto, the people that killed my mom when I was born are still out there" Sakura raised an eyebrow and the blonde wisely shut his mouth, Yukimaru found this hilariously funny and began laughing at Naruto's misfortune.

'Yeesh apparently these guys have her really pissed off' Naruto eyed Sakura warily and noticed the way she held herself and knew that if he said anything she didn't want him to Sakura would whirl on him so fast he'd find himself face first in the dirt.

After a few minutes Yukimaru fell silent and wondered how long they were going to walk, he could feel Midori beginning to tire as she slowed way down to the point where they were to far away from Sakura and Naruto.

"Sakura-onee-chan we need to stop for a bit Midori is tired" he called out to the two teens after carefully jumping off of Midori, up ahead Naruto had heard Yukimaru and stopped this caused Sakura to stop and realize that Yukimaru and Midori were way behind them.

"Ok just for a little while" Sakura relented when she saw how tired Midori was and decided to let the wolf rest, it had been awhile since she had gone anywhere or exercised "Yukimaru grab a kunai we'll practice" Sakura would make the most of their break.

Sakura started the lesson by having Yukimaru demonstrate what he had learned so far, he showed her the distance he could throw at which was pretty far from his original starting point and then he showed her the improvement in his aim at a farther distance.

It wasn't quite in the center yet but a few more months of practice should change that, once Yukimaru was finished demonstrating his skills Sakura had him practice throwing until his arms felt like they would fall off.

Once Yukimaru was finished with that Sakura called him over to her "Yukimaru we are going to increase your strength so you'll need to wear these indestructible gloves I had made for you" she held out a pair of pale green and magenta gloves with a signature and mark on them.

"Thank you onee-sama" Yukimaru stared down at the gloves in adoration, ever since he had arrived in the Leaf Village not once had anyone asked him to use his special ability and it was a relief because whenever he used it, it hurt him so much that he blacked out most of the time.

He hastily tugged them on over his hands and he marveled at the softness of them before Sakura directed him over to the tree he had been practicing on with his kunai "What am I going to have to do" Yukimaru was a little nervous that it would be difficult.

"I need you to punch and kick this tree with all of your strength until you can't anymore and then work on building your chakra reserves by climbing this tree" Sakura smiled, this was one of the first things she had taught Naruto as a child and couldn't wait to see Yukimaru's expression.

With that Sakura took a step back and Yukimaru started his attack this went on for a little while until he switched arms "Do you have to be so tough on the kid" Naruto thought that Sakura was being a little unfair in her training of Yukimaru.

"Don't worry Naruto, I'm just evaluating how much we need to actually work on his strength so far he has an adequate amount but it's not enough to be average" Sakura explained hoping to put Naruto's worry to rest.

"That's not it, he's just a kid don't you think your pushing him to far to fast" Naruto knew that Sakura cared for Yukimaru as if he was her own but this was a little outrageous, weapons training and then endurance training along with chakra training that was a little harsh.

"Naruto that's just a standard day in the academy" Sakura turned and gave the blue eyed blonde a glare "Besides Yukimaru's tougher than he looks, see he's still going" she gestured to Yukimaru who was still kicking the tree.

As opposed to his arms Yukimaru had much stronger leg strength because of how much exercise he did everyday "I guess he is" Naruto had to give Yukimaru credit where it was due as he finally lowered his leg and fell to the ground panting in exhaustion.

"Take a 3 minute break to rest Yukimaru then we'll continue" Sakura motioned him over and he slowly walked towards her "Here sit I'll give you a pill that will get rid of your exhaustion and give you an energy boost" Sakura smiled at Yukimaru and dug out the pill before cutting it in half.

Yukimaru was hesitant to eat the energy pill but quickly popped it into his mouth, he pulled a face of disgust but swallowed it and immediately felt better, the entire thing had taken the 3 minutes that Sakura had given him and he hopped back onto his feet.

"What did you mean by tree climb" Yukimaru was confused how would tree climbing help him build his chakra reserves up, instead of answering Yukimaru's question, Sakura gathered chakra to the soles of her feet and walked up the tree to Yukimaru's amazement.

He immediately wanted to try so Yukimaru gathered his own chakra to his feet and eyed the tree warily, he didn't think he could walk right up like Sakura did so he decided to get a running start and promptly slid back down the tree when the tree repelled him.

Sakura seeing her chance to get Naruto to join in on the training session asked him to tell Yukimaru what he did wrong and why he didn't go up the tree and after going back over the moment Naruto finally spoke up.

"He used to much chakra and that's why the tree cracked like that" Naruto analyzed his memories once again before nodding "When you use to much, your repelled like what just happened and to little you won't stick to the tree" Naruto told Yukimaru wisely.

"Thank you Naruto-nii-san, I'll try harder this time" Yukimaru wasn't upset that someone was pointing out his faults and weaknesses instead he was glad because it would help him improve on things and get better at them.

So Yukimaru once again gathered chakra to the soles of his feet and took a running start this time he went 3 feet up the tree before sliding back down, this time he hadn't used as much chakra as before but still it wasn't enough.

Sakura had watched Yukimaru, from her spot in the tree and noted the time, she would let him try one more time before they had to get going, Sakura wanted to reach the Rain Village in just 2 days so that she would have enough time to go around to all of her contacts.

'Ok so if the first time I used to much and the second time I used to little then this has to be the right amount' Yukimaru gathered chakra to his soles again, he was concentrating hard this time to keep the right amount flowing and then ran up the tree.

He made it to the branch Sakura was sitting on until his chakra flickered and finally gave out as Yukimaru ran out of chakra, he started screaming as he fell backwards and plummeted towards the earth, Sakura caught him just in time.

"That was scary onee-sama" Yukimaru shook in fear, that was the reason Sakura wanted him to practice building his chakra reserves, it was so something like that never happened "I made it pretty far though" Yukimaru smiled proud of himself.

"I bet it was, and congratulations but you still have a long ways to go" Sakura hugged Yukimaru tightly before giving him a chakra restoration pill, he swallowed his half obediently, made another face of disgust before climbing on Midori again and holding onto Kanpecki.

As they continued walking Sai and Anko dropped out of tree in front of Sakura who punched Sai in the face, he had been way to close to her "Jesus Pinky what's up with you" Anko helped the teen to stand, blood was flowing from his nose, Sakura had broken it.

"Just a little on edge and here let me heal that" Sakura shrugged nonchalantly when Anko motioned for her to explain further while she healed Sai's nose after setting it properly of course "Looking for a couple of people" Sakura's next answer was even more vague.

"What the heck are you two doing here" Naruto pointed an accusing finger in Sai's direction before eyeing his sensei warily, nothing good ever came from the four of them being together and it usually ended in a fight between Sakura and Sai because the latter wouldn't shut up.

"Lady Tsunade sent us to accompany you three" Anko shrugged like Sakura had and Yukimaru just about began complaining, it wasn't fair it was just supposed to be him and Sakura and now three more people have joined up with them so far.

Sakura heard Yukimaru's grumble and sent him an apologetic smile "That's alright Anko-sensei" she walked over to Yukimaru and gestured for him to lead the way "Just keep going in that direction" Sakura patted his head gently.

"How come your letting the brat lead" Anko was confused by her students actions, she hadn't missed the boy groaning at their admission and wondered why Sakura was being so gentle with the boy in her opinion Yukimaru could use some discipline.

"It's all about compromise, Anko-sensei" Sakura grinned and took off after the white wolf carrying her charge, Anko fell in step with her a moment later "Yukimaru is a good kid, but when we left, neither of us knew that 3 extra's would be coming with us" she explained.

"So what your rewarding him with bad behavior" Anko thought that Sakura's views on what she should reward the boy on was a little messed up and now Anko felt it was time Sakura learned that and was ready to scold her for teaching Yukimaru the wrong way.

"No, sensei it's not rewarding him, it's compromise, Yukimaru had wanted it to be just us and now he doesn't get that, so for not complaining about the extra addition of you and Sai he gets to lead the way until our next break" Sakura raised an eyebrow at Anko.

Anko blinked and then bust out laughing either Sakura seriously underestimated this kid and thought he was some kind of angel or she didn't understand children at all and Yukimaru needed to go to someone who would raise him better "Whatever you say pinky" Anko rolled her eyes.

A few more hours later Sakura could tell that Midori was growing tired again and so before Yukimaru could call out from right next to her, Sakura pulled the whole group to a stop "30 minute break" she gestured for everyone to relax.

"Onee-sama do you think we can get back to training" Yukimaru surprised Anko when he jumped from Midori and settled a little brown and white wolf pup next to her when Midori laid down so that she could rest and regain her strength.

Sakura threw Anko a smug smile before walking over to Yukimaru "What do you want to work on now Yukimaru" Sakura asked and Yukimaru gestured for her to choose "Ok why don't we do some more endurance and chakra training" Sakura motioned for him to follow her.

"Do I have to punch and kick a tree again" Yukimaru didn't think it was such a bad thing, it's just that he was beginning to feel sore from earlier and wanted to do something else that would help him build up strength.

"No this time you'll be doing push ups, sit ups and 10 laps around the clearing and before you try the tree climbing exercise again" Sakura rattled off and then helped Yukimaru into a proper push up position.

"How many push ups do you want me to do" Yukimaru peered up at her from beneath his long bangs and Sakura blinked in surprise, she hadn't really specified and wanted to see how many Yukimaru could do at first.

"As many as your able, and count them out for me" Sakura leaned against a tree as Yukimaru started counting, meanwhile Anko, Sai and Naruto were all sparring lightly all wanting to keep in shape while they were gone.

"So Naruto, is Sakura normally that harsh on the child" Sai struck up a normal conversation with his blonde teammate after they stopped their spar and Anko stalked over to where Sakura and Yukimaru were.

"No, but it's not like she's making Yukimaru do anything he doesn't want, he adores Sakura and anything she asks of him, Yukimaru does without question" Naruto smiled when Yukimaru's arms gave out and Sakura was quick to help him up from the ground.

"Good job Yukimaru 15 push ups is your limit and by the end of this week I want you to be able to do 25" Sakura praised Yukimaru before helping him into the sit up position "This will train your abdomen muscles" she explained to him before having him do the same thing as before.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15" Yukimaru counted huffing and puffing and struggling to raise his upper body up before finally flopping against the ground in utter exhaustion, he couldn't do anymore and wanted to move onto laps.

"Come on Yukimaru" Sakura helped him to his feet before outlining the ground where she wanted him to run and then Yukimaru was going around the clearing, while watching him Sakura went over to Midori.

"How are you feeling" Sakura was extremely gentle with the exhausted wolf and ran a brush through her long white fur when she was finished, Sakura gave Midori a treat and waited for her charge to be finished.

"Much better a little sore but I think I can walk a bit longer today, Yukimaru is so kind to me mistress do you think when we stop for the night we can get some training of our own in" Midori peered at her with her crystal blue eyes and Sakura nodded.

Anko had decided to make Naruto and Sai join Yukimaru on his run around the clearing and then joined in herself "So kid how tough is Sakura usually on you" Anko wanted to know if Sakura let him get away with a lot of things.

"Extremely tough, but that's only because I know she loves me and wants me to be the best I can be" Yukimaru felt out of breath already, usually Iruka-sensei only made them run 5 laps around the academy training grounds but he would show Sakura he could do 10.

"Oh yeah does she reward you for bad behavior often" Anko threw in a trick question and wanted to see how he would answer, she waited while he mulled over her words and then he began narrowing his eyes at her.

"Sakura-onee-sama doesn't reward me for bad behavior, whenever I do something bad, she scolds me, I don't like it, but I know that she wants me to behave like a good boy" Yukimaru frowned and sped up it was his last lap.

He just about collapsed to his knee's but Sakura was there to catch him in her arms "I made it" Yukimaru smiled up at her exhausted and Sakura gave him the other half of the energy pill, he took it with a face of disgust.

"Feel better Yukimaru and your such a strong little boy" Sakura wanted Yukimaru to know that she would never ask him something that wasn't within his abilities to do and then motioned for him to practice climbing the tree.

"Thank you Onee-sama" Yukimaru remembered how much chakra he had used earlier and started running up the tree until he couldn't anymore and then they ate a late lunch fixed by Sakura and then continued onwards.

"You know this all seems awfully familiar you know" Naruto couldn't put his finger on it, but Yukimaru's training just seemed so familiar to him and then it hit him, when they were all still little kids, Sakura had them training like this as well.

"Don't worry about it Sakura-chan, I remember" Naruto waved off Sakura's answer when she was about to tell him and they kept walking for the last three hours of daylight until they stopped for the night and Sakura cooked them dinner.

"This is delicious pinky, wish we had all gone on a mission when you were younger, I don't think I could give up this food" Anko was scarfing down the food like a starved person and talking with her mouth full.

"Haha Anko-sensei and get ready Yukimaru, I'm about to teach you two different lessons" Sakura finished the rest of her food and stood motioning for Yukimaru to follow her to the river she had caught fish in earlier.

"What are you going to teach me now onee-sama, it's not more endurance and chakra training is it" Yukimaru was on the verge of collapsing and he wanted to go to bed, but he knew the importance of training.

"Survival training, you like to cook right" Sakura asked and Yukimaru nodded, he had enjoyed making breakfast for Sakura, Shikamaru and himself, to be honest he had wished Shikamaru had come along as well "Well then every morning you'll cook" Sakura finished.

"Oh come on pinky, I hope your not suggesting the kid actually cook breakfast every morning" Anko complained she had just told Sakura that she liked her cooking and now Sakura was going to have Yukimaru cook their breakfast, it would be burnt to a crisp.

Sakura gave Anko another smug smile, it suggested to Anko that she knew something Anko didn't and it pissed Anko off but Sakura was no longer a genin or even a chunin and Anko couldn't punish her like she had before.

Sakura returned her attention onto the patiently waiting Yukimaru "Well then I think it's time you learned how to catch fish" she pulled out some dark green ninja wire and a shuriken and then taught Yukimaru how to properly throw a shuriken.

Once he had practiced enough Sakura told him to watch her and then she threw her shuriken into the water it turned red and she reeled in the wire and shuriken that had a fish attached to it, Yukimaru immediately wanted to try.

Yukimaru was getting a little frustrated as he watched the water, he couldn't throw his shuriken as fast as Sakura could so by the time it hit the water the fish were already gone "I don't think I'm ready to learn" he admitted that he wasn't ready for what Sakura wanted to teach him.

"That's ok Yukimaru we'll practice every night this week until you can successfully catch fish, and now for your other lesson" Sakura wanted to give Yukimaru a mental test in one of her genjutsu's of course it would be an easy one.

"What else do I have to learn" Yukimaru sighed but laid down in his sleeping bag when Sakura motioned for him to do so after they had walked back to the fire "Are the lessons over" Yukimaru was confused.

"Not exactly, I'm going to teach you about genjutsu, they are illusions, the one I'm going to use on you will help you be better prepared for any type of situation" Sakura gave Yukimaru a reassuring smile when fear entered his magenta eyes.

"I'm scared onee-chan" Yukimaru shivered and sat up to wrap his little arms around Sakura's neck "I don't want to go into one of them scary illusions, that snake man always made me and it was awful" he started crying.

"Oh it's ok sweety" Sakura held him while he cried just letting him get all the tears out until she could explain what she meant, to be honest she was a little pissed and the next time she saw Orochimaru he wouldn't live passed the next day.

Anko had heard what Yukimaru had said and how he had reacted to Sakura's words and felt her heart jerk in sympathy, she hadn't known that Sakura had saved Yukimaru from Orochimaru's clutches, it was just like when Sasuke died she had wanted to wrap Sakura up in her arms.

Granted Sakura had been 13 it was still heartbreaking to see the pinkette break down and close off from everyone, Yukimaru was only 7 and he had already had a traumatic experience or several if the way Sakura treated him was any clue.

"You gonna be ok kid" Anko leaned down when Yukimaru pulled away and he nodded but remained silent in Sakura's arms until he laid back down in his sleeping back Anko raised an eyebrow when Yukimaru waited for Sakura to explain.

Sakura didn't have the heart to put him through a genjutsu so she placed a kiss to his forehead and told him to go too sleep "We can try again tomorrow night" Sakura smiled when Yukimaru pouted at her but nodded and fell asleep.

Nobody said anything as Sakura stalked over to Midori "Naruto keep watch please" she called out and both of them disappeared into the forest, Naruto walked over to Kanpecki and settled the wolf pup into his lap before stoking the fire.

"She seems pissed" Sai was the first one to speak up once Sakura was far enough away, sure she didn't like him and often punched him for getting in her space, but the way she had just acted indicated that Sakura had a lot more rage pent up in her than that.

"You have no idea, Orochimaru is the one that killed our original teammate and Sakura vowed to get revenge on him, that's one of the reasons she left on her three year training journey with Hidan" Naruto ran his hand over Kanpecki's back and the wolf pup whined.

Midori and Sakura had begun practicing the snow jutsu's from long ago "Mistress you seem tense" Midori spoke once she had a small break from using the snow jet, Sakura on her part wanted to rip a new one in Orochimaru and everyone that had ever hurt Yukimaru.

"I'm more than a little tense Midori" Sakura gave the wolf a pained smile before jumping atop her and having her run through the set up training field of snow clones like they used to do before, and then circled back around to their little camp to rest up for tomorrow.

The next morning Yukimaru and Sakura woke before everyone else because they were so used to waking early, the two of them went down to the river to splash some cold water on their faces, Yukimaru grimaced when he realized he wouldn't be getting a bath.

"When we get into the rain village you can get a bath" Sakura assured him and then Yukimaru pulled out the ninja wire Sakura had given him and the shuriken before practicing, trying to catch a fish, while Sakura caught several for everyone and gutted, scaled and deboned hers.

Before they left Yukimaru after adjusting the speed in which he threw his shuriken finally caught a small fish, Sakura taught him how to gut, and scale the fish, Yukimaru pulled another face of disgust but did as Sakura requested.

Then they gathered up their catches and went back to the fire that Naruto had started up while they were gone, Anko and Sai were over by a tree clearly in an argument, when Anko spotted Sakura approaching she leveled a glare at Sai and stalked over to Sakura.

"Where the hell have you been" Anko demanded and Sakura held up her hands that had their breakfast attached to strings of wire "Oh" Anko immediately turned sheepish as her anger and impatience fizzled out.

"Yeah and Yukimaru bring your fish over here" Sakura sprinkled a bit of herbs on it and promised that she would teach him later before he set up the fish over the fire while he was waiting for his fish to cook Sakura gave him a book.

"While we walk and while we wait I want you to read that book and I'll give you a test on it" she explained and Yukimaru nodded in understanding, he flipped open the book and started reading it his little mind eagerly soaking up the new knowledge like a sponge.

While Yukimaru was busy, Sakura gathered some berries for everyone to have with their fish and then set them over the fire like Yukimaru's "Onee-sama what is this" Yukimaru held up his book and showed her a picture of an herb she was very familiar with.

"It's parsley, it's an herb that I grow in the garden" Sakura hurriedly explained, Yukimaru nodded and then closed his book to pick up his fish and a small bowl of berries and begin eating, the others did the same.

After cleaning up the clearing to cover their tracks, Yukimaru gathered up Kanpecki and his new book and climbed onto Midori's back as they began walking in the direction of the Rain Village, a couple hours later the gates came into view.

Sakura didn't want to gather any attention so she used a modified transformation jutsu, instead of pink hair she had green, and instead of green eyes she had pink much like Hidan's, her skin turned a darker color and she grew a few inches.

Her voice was a little higher and her outfit had completely changed to something more conservative "Jesus Sakura, I don't think anyone would recognize you, that transformation is flawless even your chakra signature has changed" Anko whistled in awe.

"Practice makes perfect and today I don't want to be recognized and my nickname in this form is Himawari" Sakura told Anko and made sure Yukimaru knew that he couldn't call her Sakura and then she led the group towards the Rain Village Gates.

"Good afternoon" Himawari smiled pleasantly at the guard and handed over her pass into the village, the guard checked it over and then hurriedly unlocked the gates and motioned for Himawari and her company to enter the village.

"That was so awesome, I wish I had a secret identity" Naruto whispered to her and Sakura as Himawari giggled and promised to help him create one later after she had concluded her business in the village.

Himawari signed in at the hotel "Now Yukimaru, I need you to stay here and read your book, I will be back in 1 hour" Sakura released the jutsu for a moment and hugged Yukimaru when he pouted at her but he flopped down on the bed and opened his book.

Sakura performed her transformation jutsu until she was Himawari again, gave Yukimaru a wave and disappeared out the window to Yukimaru's surprise, Sakura raced through the village under her disguise until she came to a small house near the outskirts.

Knocking on the door in a certain way, it would alert the man inside the house that it was her, a moment later the door slid open "What flowers bloom during the winter" a deep male voice floated from the open doorway.

"Hellebores" Sakura recited one of her many passwords and her contact appeared "Ryo-san" Sakura nodded and slipped into the house, the door closed behind her and she followed the silent man down the hall to a sound proofed room.

"What brings you here Himawari-san" Ryo clasped his hands together and eyed Sakura carefully, he was an ex rogue ninja but because of Sakura sparing his life, Ryo had become indebted to the young girl and he moved here to the rain village.

Sakura remained silent for a few more minutes before finally speaking in a low voice "Two men are trying to make my life difficult, Itsumo and Retsu Kamizuru" Sakura handed over the picture she had copied.

"I need you to keep your eyes peeled here in the village, if you see them take this to Nagato and Konan and they will detain them, and then get in touch with me" Sakura slid a note across the desk, Ryo nodded and put the note and picture away in a folder.

"I understand" Ryo nodded stood from the desk and walked Sakura back through the hall of his home and to the front door "Good luck flower" Ryo called out before she turned the corner and then he swiftly shut the door.

Sakura snuck back through the village and climbed in through the window, Yukimaru almost shouted in fright but remained quiet when Sakura removed her transformation "Sorry about that" she dug into her bag and pulled out some clothes.

"Want to have that bath now, we still have 35 minutes left, and then we have to get out of the village and fast" Sakura didn't want to stick around the rain village any longer her business concluded she had no reason to stay.

Yukimaru closed his book and jumped up, grabbed some clothes from his own bag and followed Sakura into the bathroom connected to their hotel room, 10 minutes later they exited and packed their stuff away in their backpacks.

On the way out, they gathered Naruto, Sai and Anko from their rooms and signed out, before Sakura left the room she donned her transformation again and payed the rent and then the group of 5 left the village.

A few miles out of the village and on their way to stone, Midori carrying Kanpecki met up with them and Sakura removed her transformation "So where did you disappear to pinky, I looked all over that hotel for you" Anko was a little peeved that Sakura had run off and left them alone.

"I had to talk to someone, it's nothing against you sensei, I just had to do that alone" Sakura smiled at the woman who rolled her eyes but accepted the explanation with out any more complaints, at least she hadn't had to watch Yukimaru.

A couple hours later Midori began to tire and Sakura called for a break "Oh come on I'm sure the wolf can go for a few more hours" Anko immediately disliked the idea of a break if it was up to her they wouldn't be stopping at all.

"Midori needs to build up her strength again and Yukimaru needs his lessons" Sakura didn't look over at the woman and motioned for Yukimaru to follow her over to a tree "Today we'll switch up the lessons abit" Sakura explained.

"Ok Onee-sama, what would you like me to start with today" Yukimaru pumped his arm excitedly and then winced, to be honest he still felt extremely sore from yesterday and wasn't sure he could do half as well as he did before but he would still try.

"Sit ups and then push ups, and then I want you to practice taijutsu on a different target, later today you'll practice increasing your speed with your chakra and then weapons training and during meals survival training and then tonight genjutsu and calligraphy" Sakura rattled off.

Yukimaru was extremely grateful he wouldn't be doing all of that all together and moved into the sit up position "I'll do my best Sakura-onee-sama" he gave her a small smile and pushed his body upright and started counting.

When Yukimaru reached 15 sit ups he pushed himself harder to do two more before flopping back against the ground, then Yukimaru rolled over and got in the proper push up position and began doing his push ups.

During all this Sakura had moved to a different spot and performed a set of handsigns "Snow Style: Snow Field Jutsu" she called out and part of the ground changed from the forest terrain to snowy terrain and then she created another set of handsigns.

"Snow Style: Snow Clone Jutsu" Sakura called out and the snow swirled up into the air before forming snow clones of all shapes and sizes by the time she was finished Yukimaru had done all of his push ups and included two extra like he had done with the sit ups.

Before Yukimaru ran off to practice his own taijutsu style Sakura stopped him "Hold up there kiddo" Sakura clipped a cloak around Yukimaru's small shoulders "Afterwards tell me how many push ups and sit ups you did" she warned and then nudged him off to practice.

"Won't he get cold" Naruto was worried that Sakura was being to tough on the kid once again, and wondered what Sakura was thinking by making Yukimaru practice in the cold like he was currently doing.

"It's not to cold, I can control how cold the snow is and Yukimaru has to practice on all kinds of different terrain" Sakura explained to Naruto's confusion "If he can't fight in all kinds of different weather then that's one more weakness he'll have" Sakura continued for Naruto's sake.

"I see now what your doing pinky and that's pretty damn clever of you" Anko caught on before Naruto did and gave Sakura a smirk "Your conditioning him so that he can fight no matter what the condition" Anko explained to the clueless males.

"Exactly" Sakura returned the smirk and then focused her concentration on the snow "Snow Style: Snow Awareness" Sakura went through a short set of hand signs before slumping against the tree she was leaning against.

Sakura found herself floating through the snow she had created so that she could spy on Yukimaru as her eyesight came into focus she winced as Yukimaru got knocked back from a light kick and knew that she would have to heal him tonight.

She watched as Yukimaru jumped to his feet and swung his foot through the snow clone destroying it, 10 minutes later she pulled back and woke in her own body before calling off her snow field jutsu to attend to Yukimaru.

Before Sakura could stand Yukimaru trudged over and plopped down in her lap with a smile on his lips "I beat some of your clones" Yukimaru stated quite proud of himself and Sakura refrained from telling him that she already knew.

"Good job Yukimaru are you sore anywhere" Sakura hoped that he wouldn't hide the bruise she knew must of formed on his back where he hit the rocks imbedded in the ground, when he motioned to his back Sakura released a sigh of relief.

"My back really hurts Onee-sama, I think it might be bruised a little" Yukimaru winced as he shifted around in Sakura's lap and then removed his cloak and lifted up his shirt when Sakura asked him to so that she could check him over.

"It is a little bruised but it's not so bad just a little green and yellow, consider yourself lucky that it's not worse than that I don't think you need to heal him Sakura" Anko intervened before Sakura could heal Yukimaru's back for him.

Sakura didn't like this one little bit and so she turned to Yukimaru to see what he wanted done "I'll be ok Onee-sama, it's like Anko-san says" Yukimaru knew that his beloved elder sister was angry with the purple haired woman.

"If you say so, and Yukimaru if it gets to unbearable, you've got to tell me ok" Sakura knew that Yukimaru was just saying that so that she didn't fight with Anko, and to be honest she had been about to punch the woman for interfering.

"I promise onee-sama" Yukimaru smiled at Sakura and hopped up from her lap and waited for her next instructions when Sakura gave him a puzzled look he explained "It's almost lunch time and you said I had to practice survival" he repeated what she had told him earlier.

With that Sakura hopped up, and led Yukimaru into the forest so that she could teach Yukimaru how to pick herbs properly in the clearing Anko repressed a shiver, she had a feeling that she had just massively pissed Sakura off.

Sai and Naruto had remained oddly silent during their little encounter but the minute Sakura and Yukimaru was gone Naruto shook, the killing intent that had rolled off Sakura in waves had been much larger than what Anko could produce and it was spine chillingly scary.

"Naruto have you ever seen Sakura that pissed" Anko was the first to talk and Naruto nodded his head "Is it about Orochimaru" Anko prodded hoping to gain more information and fix what she had possibly done wrong.

"No, Sakura only gets that angry when someone she cares about interferes with someone else she cares about" Naruto remembered back to the chunin exams after his fight with Neji, Shikamaru had approached Sakura and Shino had scared him off.

"One time Shino scared Shikamaru off and Sakura got extremely angry" Naruto explained further "Sakura's like a hurricane on a warpath when she is angry" he shrugged glad that he wasn't on the end of her anger this time.

"Well how do I fix it" Anko sulked, it hurt knowing that Sakura was angry with her because she had intervened, Yukimaru had spoke up in her defense because he didn't want Sakura to fight with her and Sakura knew exactly what the boy had done and was angry about it.

Naruto grimaced, usually the only way to make things right were to apologize to the person that had been wronged, but Anko was a strong willed woman and extremely stubborn so he didn't know exactly how things would go.

"Let me guess I have to apologize to the kid" Anko sighed if that's what it took to have Sakura not angry with her anymore then that's what she would do and so Anko flopped down in front of tree to wait for Sakura and Yukimaru's return.

In the forest Sakura was teaching Yukimaru how to find fruit and herbs, so far he had found parsley and wild chives along with sage and a couple sprigs of rosemary, now he was climbing a tree to pick some wild blackberries.

Once they had finished, Yukimaru was covered in dirt and he really didn't like it but he obediently followed Sakura over to the river to catch 10 fish granted it took him 20 minutes but he did it and then he gutted, scaled and deboned the fish like Sakura had taught him.

"Now Yukimaru here is where the herbs come in" Sakura handed him a bowl and an extremely clean grinding rock "Grind the herbs up into a thick paste and then layer it onto each fish" she instructed before letting Yukimaru try it on his own.

After he had properly strung the fish up on the wire and washed his hands off, the two of them went back to the clearing upon seeing Sakura and Yukimaru, Anko jumped up and walked right over to the two, causing Sakura to tense as her earlier anger came back.

"I'm sorry brat, if you want Sakura to heal your back then go ahead I won't stop you or her again" Anko breathed out all in one breath before walking back over to her tree and plopping down and waited for someone to speak.

"That's ok Anko-san, but thank you and really it doesn't hurt as much anymore" Yukimaru was telling the truth the pain had faded into a dull ache "Do I get to make the fire pit today" he was excited to learn more.

"Well ours have already been set up but while the fish is cooking, I'll teach you" Sakura ruffled his hair and noticed that Yukimaru needed a trim, her own hair had reached mid back again but that's only because she constantly messed with it.

"Of course Onee-sama" Yukimaru quickly speared the fish and set them up over the fire while making sure he still had the berries he had picked before following Sakura over to a spot 10 feet away from the main fire.

"First Yukimaru take this trowel and dig a hole 3 feet down" Sakura handed over a little white trowel that she carried around whenever she had to dig a fire pit, once the hole had been dug, Sakura told him the second task.

"Sticks like this" Sakura held up a tree branch that was as thick as his arms and he quickly scurried around gathering as many as he could, before Sakura could instruct him on the next part he went over to the fire to check on the fish, they needed a few more minutes.

"Twigs, leaves and dry grass and lots of rocks and some bark" Sakura held up some items for Yukimaru to compare to and he once again scrambled around to look for what he needed now, piled them all into a neat pile and trotted back over to the fire.

"The fish are done Onee-sama" Yukimaru carefully removed two fish from the fire and handed them over to Sakura before taking his own his eyes lit up as he bit into the crunchy herb paste and quickly ate his two fish.

Anko was going deliberately slow so that Yukimaru could build his own fire as Sakura led him back over to the hole he had dug "Now put most of your dried grass and leaves into the hole leave some left to start your fire and then stack your sticks" Sakura instructed Yukimaru.

He glanced to the side and mimicked what Sakura had done before creating a ring of rocks around his fire pit and then he took the bark an extra twig some dried grass and a leaf, and the two remaining rocks.

"The next part is a little tricky, you have to rub the rocks together to create a spark and then you have to blow gently on the smoke to generate your fire and you have to quickly put it in the bottom of your fire pit" Sakura showed him first and then put out her tiny fire.

Yukimaru was slightly afraid but he rubbed his rocks together, and then blew on the smoke to make it turn to fire and suddenly he had a roaring fire in his fire pit "I did it awesome-sauce" Yukimaru jumped to his feet pumping his arm in the air proud of himself.

"Good job Yukimaru, tonight you'll get to catch and cook our dinner along with make the fire pit" Sakura patted Yukimaru on the head showed him how to put the fire out by pouring their left over water over it and then covered the pit with the dirt he had piled up.

Once everything was clean and the clearing looked as if no one had even been there the group set off Anko wanted to groan but knew better as they continued on their way to the Hidden Stone Village to meet up with Sakura's contact.

"So Sakura you never did explain what you requested this mission for" Sai was curious and wanted to know how much she trusted them, if she lied he would know and it would mean that Sakura was a traitor of the village.

He had heard the rumors, that a pink haired girl had gotten Danzou in trouble and now he was missing, his body hadn't been recovered so something had to of happened to him and Sakura was his most likely suspect.

"Two guys that killed my birth mother are going around and messing with people I care about and I want to stop them, so I'm going around to my contacts that I have set up in every village and relaying the details to them so they can have their eyes peeled for me" Sakura explained.

Sai blinked in confusion "I thought you were an Aburame" he questioned in suspicion, Sai hadn't thought that she would actually tell the truth but this was preposterous, what reason did she have to lie to him, everyone knew that Shibi's wife died during childbirth.

"Not by birth, but by adoption, my true family heritage are the Kamizuru's" Sakura raised an eyebrow daring Sai to ask another question, and he wisely remained silent, and watched as Yukimaru jumped from Midori and pressed himself next to Sakura.

Anko sped up when she saw this as Naruto walked next to Midori now to make sure the wolf didn't fall behind "What's the matter with you kid" Anko eyed the little boy as he breathed heavily and tremors racked his body as fear took hold of him.

"This is the place we found him at" Sakura didn't like this one bit, she didn't want Yukimaru to be further traumatized "How about you guys keep walking in that direction while I settle some business with my contact" Sakura offered and Yukimaru veered off in the direction she pointed.

Sakura was glad her contact lived on the outside of the stone and rock villages, she exchanged brief words and then left after asking the woman to keep her eyes open in both the villages, Sakura quickly caught up with the others.

"Well that didn't take you very long" Anko noted that it couldn't have been more than 20 minutes that Sakura had left them to go speak with her contact and sent them walking in this direction as they headed to the land of snow and iron.

"No just relaying the information" Sakura shrugged and took her spot at the front of the group next to Yukimaru "While we are walking Yukimaru, what are you supposed to be doing" Sakura had noticed he wasn't reading the book she had given him.

"I'm sorry Onee-sama, I forgot" Yukimaru gave her a cheeky smile but pulled the book from his pack and flipped it open to start reading an hour later he closed it "Do you have any more books Sakura-onee-chan" Yukimaru wanted to learn more.

"Tomorrow, tonight you'll be getting a test on everything in that book and other things I've taught you" Sakura grinned when Yukimaru pouted, he thought being away from the village would give him a break from all the tests but apparently not.

A few more hours later Sakura halted the group and Yukimaru ran off to the river to catch their dinner 20 minutes later he came back carrying 10 fish like before and he quickly started a fire after digging the fire pit and gathering everything he needed.

Once the fire was going and the fish were cooking, Sakura gestured for Yukimaru to practice throwing his weapons training and aim until the fish was done as soon as he was finished Yukimaru ran back over to the tree to practice.

He stood a foot further away than usual and practiced until Yukimaru thought his arms were going to fall off "Good job Yukimaru now before your test, since I still have to finish writing it up you'll learn how to increase your speed with your chakra" Sakura praised him from her spot.

"Hahahaha you don't actually think he's ready for chakra training do you" Sai laughed for the first time since he had been assigned to team 7 and if Naruto, Sakura and Anko were being honest with themselves it was extremely creepy.

Sakura didn't say anything to Sai instead, she stood and walked over to Yukimaru "Now the first thing you want to do, instead of your feet, focus your chakra into your legs" Sakura instructed and Yukimaru blinked his legs felt light.

"Good job, keep your chakra flowing through your legs at that level and then do 11 laps around the clearing" Sakura motioned to his starting and stopping point and then he was off, she walked back over to her spot to finish making up the test.

Anko felt as if all she and Sai were doing lately is making Sakura angry, Tsunade hadn't honestly sent them to join up with Sakura and Naruto, the two had, had some free time and she had wanted to mess with her pink and blonde haired students.

"You know what pinky I think Sai and I will take our leave" Anko walked over and pulled the girl up to give her a side hug and ruffle her hair before stalking over to Sai and dragged him up by the arm and with that they were gone.

Sakura wanted to scream in frustration, it had all been one of Anko's pranks to mess with her mind but she refrained and finally finished writing the last question, by that time Yukimaru had 4 more laps to go and he was doing marvelously well.

"Just a couple days of training and even I can see the improvement" Naruto sat down close to her Kanpecki in his lap, Yukimaru didn't mind it because Naruto wasn't trying to take his wolf away like some people had already tried.

"Still think I'm being harsh on him" Sakura turned a smug smile on the blonde when he shook his head "And tomorrow I'll switch up Yukimaru's training so that we can get some of our own in, I still remember what you requested" she nudged his side with her elbow.

That moment Yukimaru dropped down in front of her, his breathing was a little smoother than yesterday "Alright you have 30 minutes to complete this test" Sakura handed over the test before Yukimaru could talk.

"And could you tell me how many sit ups and push ups you did today" she threw in her question when he was focused on his test, he didn't look up instead choosing to mark down a few answers before finally answering her.

"17 each so two more than yesterday" Yukimaru looked over the other questions, to be honest it wasn't as hard as the academy tests could get, but it was still challenging, while he was working Yukimaru asked Sakura a question.

"Onee-sama will you please explain what kind of genjutsu I'll have to go through" Yukimaru was still scared but he would go through Sakura's mental test if that's what she wanted of him and he would do it with his head held high.

"Well it will a simple and easy one, I need to evaluate how good you are at analyzing certain situations" Sakura gave Yukimaru a reassuring smile "Like say you got lost in the forest, before you go in make a mark on tree's you pass by and it will lead you out" She gave him an example.

"Oh that's not so scary" Yukimaru was relieved that it wouldn't be a difficult and terrifying genjutsu before refocusing on finishing his test, he didn't remember how much time had passed but if he didn't finish Yukimaru was sure he would get scolded for slacking off.

Yukimaru finished in record time because a second after he set it down, Sakura called time, he handed it over when she held out her hand and waited patiently while she checked it before making a few marks here and there before grading it.

"I'm very proud of you my litte protege you got 97% and your handwriting is much smoother than before" Sakura pulled out her pack and gave him a piece of honeycomb, it was one of his favorite snacks to eat.

"Thank you Onee-sama" Yukimaru was confused on what protege meant but he would ask tomorrow "I'm ready for the genjutsu now" he quickly ate the sticky treat and licked his fingers clean before laying in his sleeping bag.

Before Sakura could do the hand signs to the genjutsu, Naruto scooted his sleeping bag closer "Can you put me in a genjutsu to" he grinned when Sakura rolled her eyes but nodded and motioned for him to lay down as well.

With that both were in their individual genjutsu's, Yukimaru looked around warily hoping that nothing would jump out at him, as he started walking a leaf floated down in front of him and Yukimaru gently captured it.

And then came Sakura's voice "In this genjutsu Yukimaru, your task is to find all the herbs in the book, you'll find them in the forest" a forest appeared before him and Yukimaru gulped, what had Sakura told him to do so that he wouldn't get lost.

"What I told you about was just an example, you'll have to figure out your own way, be resourceful" Sakura warned and then her voice faded until he was all alone again and suddenly he wished he were better prepared for this.

Shaking his head Yukimaru looked around again and then he remembered the leaf in his hand, it was yellow and rather large so it would be easily spotted, he looked once more and finally noticed all the tree's that had the exact same leaf he held.

Yukimaru felt the bag on his back and carefully climbed a tree, and being careful picked a bunch of leaves until half of his bag was full, next he needed to find some kind of sticky glue like substance to stick the leaves onto the trees.

He had no weapons as he spotted a tree that was leaking sap, so he scanned the clearing he stood in until he found a sharp rock and some clay that he could mold, before he could collect the sap he needed to make something he could hold it in.

So Yukimaru leaned over and took several handfuls of clay and started molding it into a bowl, then he quickly started up a fire, he dug the pit with his bare hands, and set the clay bowl into the fire so that it could bake and harden.

While he was waiting, Yukimaru went over to the tree and eyed it, how was he going to get the sap out without any weapons, then he remembered the sharp rock and started making a hole until sap was dribbling down from it and then he pushed a piece of bark in to halt it.

Next he walked through some tree's and found a river, then he went back to his little fire to check on his clay bowl, a lot of time had passed by unnoticed by Yukimaru as he put out the fire by kicking dirt on it and carefully pulled the bowl out.

He went back to the river and dunked the bowl in for an instant cool down, as he was leaning over he wiped the sweat from his forehead, analyzing different situations were difficult but Yukimaru thought he could manage.

Next he gathered the sap and finally entered the forest, everytime he passed by a tree he would lather some sap on one of the leaves and press it to the tree and made sure it would stay where he put it before continuing on.

After that he found all the herbs and then he woke up on the outside free of the genjutsu, Yukimaru's head hurt a little and Sakura quickly soothed him by healing the headache that had formed, the whole thing had taken 30 minutes and it wasn't even scary.

"I'm extremely proud of you, Yukimaru but now it's time for bed" Sakura yawned at the same time as Yukimaru, gave him a goodnight kiss on the top of his head and then crawled into her own sleeping bag after setting a protective genjutsu around the clearing.

The next morning Sakura and Naruto woke by the smell of fish layered with herbs, Sakura peeked over her shoulder and found Yukimaru over by a tree practicing climbing it with his chakra Sasuke was curled around his neck.

Then she eyed the fire that had already cooked fish by it but they were still close enough to the fire that it kept them warm "Did Yukimaru make all that by himself" Naruto blinked in confusion, sure Sakura had been teaching him but that looked way better than what Sakura usually cooked.

"Yeah" Sakura smiled fondly at the little boy as he finally started on practicing his aim, he was applying everything he had learned over the last few days and it made her so proud to know that he was doing all of this to impress her.

"Onee-sama, Naruto-nii-san" Yukimaru spotted the two after retrieving his weapons "I've already eaten breakfast, I thought I would get in some practice before you two woke up" Yukimaru felt guilty and ashamed of himself for not waiting for the others to wake up.

Sakura instantly noticed this "Don't feel ashamed for wanting to train Yukimaru, that's a good thing, it means I won't have to supervise you during breaks" she praised and his guilty expression vanished from his face without a trace.

"Awesome-sauce" Yukimaru giggled and turned back to the tree he had been practicing on, while Sakura and Naruto ate their fish, when they were finished Yukimaru came trotting over and he put the fire out and covered it with the dirt.

Once everything was packed away Sakura motioned for Yukimaru to stand next to her instead of climbing on Midori this time "What is it Onee-sama" Yukimaru immediately asked and she handed over another book for Yukimaru to read.

"I want you to read that entire book there will be another test tonight on it, once I talk to my contact, we'll rest for the remainder of the day and we can all get some training in after I visit one of my friends" Sakura gently ordered.

Yukimaru didn't mind that there would be a test, so long as he kept getting books to read while they walked "Oh Onee-sama I did 18 push ups and sit ups this morning" he remembered and Sakura pulled out a notebook to write down the information.

"Get to reading cheeky little monkey" Sakura snickered when Yukimaru buried his head in the book after climbing atop Midori once she had motioned for him to do so, before they entered the snow Sakura pulled out some winter clothes for Yukimaru.

They went into the brush and she quickly helped him shrug the heavier clothes over his regular clothes before clipping a cloak around his shoulder and then gave him some boots, a scarf and some ear muffs, he already had his gloves on his hands.

Yukimaru decided to walk so he didn't get so cold sitting on Midori, he had put away his book because it was difficult to see in the snow and Yukimaru didn't want it to get wet, Sakura was scanning the surroundings carefully.

Finally a black dot on the horizon appeared and slowly came closer "Sakura pleasure to see you again" the man didn't remove his hood "Kenta-san, I need you to keep your eyes peeled for me" Sakura got right down to business.

She handed over a picture and some information and the man turned and walked the way he had come without another word "That guy was a little freaky Sakura-chan, what the heck are you doing working for someone like him" Naruto shivered it was like the guy had been a void.

"Naruto, I'm not working for him, he's working for me, I spared his life and now he works as my contact, Kenta gets regular payments for sending me information" Sakura pulled him by his ear and whispered her explanation so that Yukimaru would remain oblivious.

"Oh I see and can we get the heck out of this cold now" Naruto was jumping up and down and rubbing his arms to generate heat in them, the next couple of hours were spent walking to a building far off in the distance.

"Sakura-san" Mifune had just started his patrol when he spotted the pink haired girl and two others "A friend of yours is waiting inside" he would get someone else to patrol, Mifune was much to interested to hear how Sakura had been doing.

Sakura furrowed her brows and felt around for a familiar chakra, she let out a breath of relief apparently Shikamaru had known she would show up here and had been waiting "Thank you Mifune-san" Sakura bowed to the samurai.

"Will you be staying the rest of the night, there's supposed to be a blizzard tonight and clear skies tomorrow" Mifune relayed the information to Sakura when she nodded, Mifune glanced back at the two boys, the two wolfs and the ferret wrapped around one of the boys.

"I've been waiting for you Sakura" Shikamaru strode forward and not paying any attention to the others pulled Sakura into his arms and kissed her hard right on the lips, Yukimaru behind the two squeaked and hid behind Naruto in embarrassment.

He held her for awhile before letting Sakura pull back so that they could take a deep breath, Sakura's cheeks had turned red but she was content just to be with Shikamaru again, that's when she noticed how many people were staring.

Sakura rolled her eyes, slapped a chuckling Shikamaru's chest lightly and cleared her throat sheepishly "So I take it you'll be joining us for the rest of the month" she asked when everyone remained silent and staring.

"Yes, Sakura I'll be joining you for the rest of the month" Shikamaru wrapped his arms around her from behind causing Yukimaru who had just come out from behind Naruto to hid behind the blonde once more, he didn't want to see his onee-sama acting like other adults he knew.

"Mifune-san, may we use the training room" Sakura leaned back against Shikamaru briefly before pulling away to ask her question, embarrassing moment over Yukimaru came out from behind Naruto for the 2nd time.

Sasuke who had wrapped himself around his neck began making this weird noise at one of the men that was standing near by, and Yukimaru feeling that something was about to happen, subtly shifted closer to Sakura as Mifune answered her question.

Before he could speak though the little child that was with Sakura tugged on Sakura's shirt "Onee-sama there's a bad man here" Yukimaru's voice was soft and frightened as he used his other hand to pet Sasuke soothingly.

Sakura went rigid and slowly turned around searching for a malevolent chakra, she couldn't find it though and was about to tell Yukimaru not to worry, when Sasuke lunged forward and clamped his teeth in her arm.

Unwillingly she began sharing her chakra with the ferret, and his own came to life, he wasn't a house pet afterall and it proved just how niave she had been "Mistress the man Yukimaru-sama is talking about is over there in the corner" Sasuke spoke to her for the first time.

Bond complete between the two of them Sasuke once again wrapped himself around Yukimaru so the boy wouldn't worry to much as Mifune and Sakura went over to take care of the unwanted visitor in the room.

They took him outside leaving Naruto, Shikamaru, Yukimaru and the animals inside to wait "Who are you" Sakura was seething with repressed rage and the man backed up in fright, he'd never seen someone get angry to this degree.

"I'm a friend" the voice was oddly familiar but Sakura wasn't in the mood to play a guessing game so she reached up and yanked the helmet from his head, to reveal silver hair tied back in a ponytail and onyx eyes.

"Kabuto Yakushi, how did you escape" Sakura hissed wrapping her hands around his neck and squeezing it in warning, if he said the wrong thing, she would no longer spare his life like she had in the past it would be much worse than a punch to the jaw.

"I didn't escape Kamizuru-san, Tsunade gave me a mission, I'll go back to Orochimaru and relay any information I can in exchange for a smooth transfer into the rain village once Orochimaru is dead" Kabuto raised his hands and eyed Sakura warily while he explained.

"And I knew that you would be heading through this way so I wanted to see how Yukimaru-kun was doing" Kabuto went on when Sakura slightly relaxed "And I must say he has gotten a lot better at sensing chakra" he was proud of the little boy.

"Yukimaru is still terrified of you and Orochimaru, so the next time you approach me, you better make sure Yukimaru isn't with me" Sakura huffed and jabbed her finger in his chest "Now go" she jerked her head and Kabuto hesitated.

"Consider me one of your personal contacts Kamizuru-sama" Kabuto gave her a low bow before disappearing into the surrounding forest, when he was far enough gone Sakura and Mifune made their way back inside the building.

"Come on Yukimaru, Naruto, let's get some training in" Sakura motioned and Yukimaru quickly followed her along with Naruto, Shikamaru and Mifune "Would you like to read or practice" she questioned and Yukimaru pondered.

"I'd like to read Onee-sama, and did you get rid of that man" Yukimaru wanted to relax for a while today and he wanted to know if Sakura had killed that guy, like that woman killed his real mother when he was younger.

"I didn't kill him Yukimaru" Sakura knew what Yukimaru was asking and was quick to reassure him with a hug "Now you go over there and read your book, while Naruto and I train" Sakura waited until he was far enough away before motioning Naruto over.

Shikamaru and Mifune leaned against the beam Yukimaru was sitting in front of reading a book about the history of the leaf village, Mifune wanted to see how much Sakura had improved and Shikamaru wanted to see if she would hold back against Naruto.

Sakura started the spar and the two began circling each other looking for any weaknesses, Naruto made the first move by reaching down and unsheathing his sword from where it's sheath was bound to the outside of his right leg and leaping forward.

He thrust the blade toward Sakura, who moved her head to the side to avoid the sharp weapon and then grasped Naruto's wrist to prevent him from attacking, she delivered a kick to Naruto's left leg sending him rolling across the floor.

Shikamaru winced, it became readily apparent that Sakura would not be holding back at all "Come on Naruto, attack with the intent to harm" Sakura scolded, this was a constant point of irritation for her, nobody ever took her seriously and were always pulling their punches.

"Alright but remember you asked for it" Naruto jumped to his feet, picked up his tantou sword and charged forward, turning the blade just barely as it swiped past Sakura's cheek cutting it before swinging it diagonally.

Sakura pulled out her own tantou and Naruto took a moment to stare at it in awe as their tantou's clashed and the sound of metal colliding with metal rang through the room as they tried again and again to cut each other.

Finaly Naruto put his away, he didn't want it to break like his last one had and moved into his taijutsu stance "Shadow Clone Jutsu" Naruto called out and 7 clones surrounded Naruto as Sakura put away her own blade.

They stared at each other for a moment before Naruto sent his clones forward, Sakura slid under the first one and slammed her fist through it dispelling the clone, she then ducked under the real Naruto's swing and send him skidding into a wooden beam.

Naruto twisted to the right to avoid hitting it and was sent crashing to the floor once again, Sakura meanwhile was fighting the remaining 6 clones, she slammed two together and they dispelled easily, before cartwheeling backwards to dodge the kunai.

Suddenly Naruto was back in the fray and it was chaos as they each landed blows on the other until this time Sakura went flying, she rolled and jumped back onto her feet and kicked out again to knock one of the clones into Naruto who had been advancing on her.

"Hey Sakura-chan after this will you teach me how to make a secret identity" Naruto called out in the middle of the spar leaning his head back to avoid getting a shuriken in the face, before spinning to the right to dodge the punch to his shoulder.

"Sure Naruto" Sakura wasn't even breathing heavy unlike Naruto who was dripping in sweat, Sakura was truly in a league all of her own and he felt honored that she was his best friend and could ask these things of her without getting a punch to the face.

Mifune was impressed, Sakura had truly improved on, not only her swordsmanship but everything else it seemed and wondered if she would accept his gift that he wanted to give her, now that she was in his home again.

Mifune could tell that Sakura was about to end the spar and sure enough after dispelling the last clone, Sakura pushed chakra into her legs to increase her speed and sent several punches to Naruto and knocked him clear off his feet.

He was glad that the ground hadn't cracked from the force she had used against her teammate "You won Sakura-chan" Naruto wheezed, his entire body ached and he saw black spots when he sat up, so with a groan he flopped back down and suddenly wished he hadn't done that either.

Naruto cracked his eyes open when the aches and pains and possible broken bones started disappearing, he found out why a moment later, Sakura was healing him "Don't ever say I don't do anything for you" Sakura laughed.

"Gotcha maybe we can hold off til later" Naruto stood up slowly and trudged to the others and flopped down next to Yukimaru who giggled at his ruffled appearance "Real cute" Naruto mumbled and gave the boy a pat on the back.

Before Mifune could approach Sakura, she turned and looked at Midori "I want you to walk around the track for as long as your able" she ordered before smiling at Mifune "Did you need something Mifune-san" she asked.

"Yes I was hoping to talk to you in my office" Mifune gave her a half smile when she nodded, Sakura hesitated "Do what you need I'll wait" he waved his hand and Sakura jogged back over to Yukimaru.

"Why don't you run with Midori a bit and get in 12 laps today" she suggested to the little boy, who closed his book, shifted Kanpecki and Sasuke over to Naruto before trotting off to join Midori on her run around the room.

Once the two were situated in Mifune's office, Sakura smiled in remembrance of the first time she had ever been here, back then things had been much simpler "First of all who is the boy" Mifune was curious about the little boy that clung to Sakura and hung off her every word.

"Yukimaru Kamizuru, his last name was given to him by me, Yukimaru is my apprentice and I saved him from Orochimaru's clutches on my last mission to save one of my friends from the hidden stone village" Sakura explained she had expected the question sooner or later.

"Did you cut your hair, it looks rather short as compared to it's previous length" came his next question and Sakura burst out laughing, Mifune cracked a smile not seeing what was so funny but waited patiently for Sakura to finish laughing.

"I'm sorry Mifune-san, it's just that a friend of mine back home wanted to cut her extremely long hair and so I cut mine as well for emotional support" Sakura bit her lip to hold back the giggles as she explained the confused man.

"I see" Mifune stroked his beard and thought of how he wanted to go about giving his gift to Sakura without her getting angry at him, he had heard of her legendary temper, it almost rivaled Tsunade's whenever she was angry.

"Sakura you like animals correct" Mifune asked an indirect question that would lead up to the main, Sakura gave him a nod "Would you be opposed to taking on another" he stood and gestured for her to follow him into a room attached to his office.

"No Mifune-san, I think with the way Yukimaru loves to care for creatures it wouldn't be to much of a problem to take on anymore animals" Sakura was sure she knew where Mifune was going with his conversation and wondered what kind of animal would make him hesitate.

"Last week, I ran across a fox that was protecting her litter from a poacher, he killed her and I killed him, the others except for this one have gone to good homes" Mifune explained and then picked up a basket and uncovered a sleeping baby fox kit.

He was a light grey and had short fur with a fluffy tail with dark grey stripes, he couldn't have been more than 3 weeks old, just then the kit came awake with a yawn, he peeked up at Sakura with bright orange eyes.

"Aww he's so adorable" Sakura refrained from squealing and carefully picked him up, the kit snuggled into Sakura's arms "You don't have to worry about this little guy anymore Mifune" Sakura was quick to assure the samurai that the kit would be in good hands now.

"Thank you and congratulations on becoming a jonin and happy belated birthday" Mifune motioned to the fox indicating that, he was a gift from him to her, for missing two important changes in Sakura's life.

"Oh thanks Mifune and now I just have to name this little guy" Sakura looked the kit over as they walked back into Mifune's office and down the hall back to the training room, where Midori was still running and Yukimaru was once again reading his book looking a little worn out.

Before Sakura could talk a name popped into her head "Ankaishoku that's what your name will be little guy, Midori come over here" Sakura called the white wolf over and set Ankaishoku before her.

"Would you be willing to raise this one as your own until he can be weaned like Kanpecki" Sakura knew that Ankaishoku needed milk and since she couldn't get any at that moment, it was up to Midori to accept and raise him.

Midori gave Ankaishoku a critical look before lowering herself to the floor and nudging Kanpecki and the fox kit, they both latched on and started suckling "That was amazing, I've never seen a wolf take on another not of her own kind" Mifune was in awe of Midori.

"This little one was in need of nourishment, I am only providing him with milk, the raising will be up to Yukimaru and Sakura" Midori spoke to him before giving her pup a tongue bath, and then doing the same for Ankaishoku.

Thoroughly chastised Mifune bids the others farewell and heads back to his office "Ready to learn how to create your own secret identity" Sakura looked to Naruto who nodded and hopped on his feet following Sakura over to a separate spot.

Sakura started by pulling out a sheet of paper and then began asking Naruto random questions "If you could have any color hair in the world what would you choose" she wrote on the paper while Naruto thought over her question.

"Orange" came Naruto's predictable answer and Sakura gave him a sigh "Red" he tried again, this time Sakura wrote down the color on the piece of paper before jotting down some other things before asking him the next question.

"Now what color of eyes would you like to have, again if you could have any color what would you choose and no it can't be orange or red" Sakura made sure to clarify that he couldn't choose the same as before.

Naruto pouted, his absolute favorite color was orange and he couldn't even use it as part of his secret identity "Metallic grey" Naruto finally sighed out, he was no longer finding this any fun because orange wouldn't be a part of it.

"What kind of socks would you like to have and Naruto you can use orange since they would be hidden by your pants" Sakura noticed the sulky expression and decided to offer him a compromise he could have orange in his outfit as long as it was hidden from sight.

The blonde perked up after that and she wrote down orange under clothing wear "Blue shirt with a yellow band around the arm and pants blue with yellow marks and blue shoes with yellow marks on them" Naruto wanted to get onto the good part of creating a secret identity.

"Would you like to have a deeper voice or a higher voice" Sakura threw in the question and Naruto blinked in confusion, then he remembered that when Sakura was disguised as Himawari, her voice was higher than usual.

"Deeper and I'll probably be a few inches shorter than my normal height and the same weight as I have now" Naruto finished and waited for Sakura to write down the rest of his secret identity information so they could move onto the fun part.

"So when you transform you'll look something like this" Sakura transformed, her hair turned red, her eyes a metallic grey, her height shortened a few inches and she gained a few pounds, and all of her clothes changed to fit Naruto's description.

Her chakra signature had changed and her voice was deep males voice as she spoke to him, and then she removed the jutsu and went back to her regular self "That was cool you know" Naruto couldn't wait to try.

"The trick Naruto isn't the transformation itself, it's changing your chakra signature so that you won't be recognized" Sakura warned, there wasn't any way to explain how to change the chakra signature except for practicing it over and over.

While he was practicing, Sakura walked over to Yukimaru, upon noticing that he had finished with his book and handed him the test papers she had made last night to quiz him on the history of the Leaf Village.

Feeling exhausted herself, Sakura flopped down on the ground and laid her head in Shikamaru's lap to take a nap, just as she closed her eyes the door to the training room slammed open and Ay along with Darui stalked in.

When the two dark skinned men spotted the pinkette they stopped in surprise "Is that you brat" Ay couldn't believe his eyes the last time he had seen the kid, she had only been 14 and now here she was looking more mature than before.

Darui had the same thoughts and about walked over to flirt with Sakura now that she was older, only to stop in his tracks upon noticing Shikamaru and how he subtly inched closer to Sakura, it was a clear warning to back off and Darui did so.

"Yes it's me Lord Ay" Sakura gave them a half hearted wave and clenched her eyes shut, she didn't have the energy to deal with the two at the moment "It's nice to see you two again" Sakura smiled and then laid her head back down in Shikamaru's lap and drifted off into a light sleep.

Thirty minutes later Sakura awoke feeling refreshed "I'm finished Sakura-onee-sama" Yukimaru gave Sakura the test papers so that she could quickly look them over before grading the test and handing it back to Yukimaru.

Yukimaru jumped up in joy upon seeing the grade "You ready for the genjutsu" Sakura gave him a tired smile and he nodded, with that Shikamaru followed the two down the halls and to the room Sakura usually used.

Once Yukimaru came out of the genjutsu, the three plus all the animals curled up on the bed together, Sakura praised Yukimaru for doing so well and then they all fell asleep to exhausted to do much more that day.


	11. First Week Part 2 & Interruptions

Sakura woke to loud giggles next to her head "Sasuke stop it" apparently Sasuke was running the length of his body under Yukimaru's chin and it was tickling the little boy more giggles followed and she cracked her eyes open.

"Terribly sorry Sakura" Sasuke twitched his tail under Yukimaru's chin one last time before curling around the boys neck, he hadn't meant to wake Sakura up this early but she didn't appear to be angry about it.

"It's ok, Yukimaru go take a quick shower and then while I work on some things, you will be going through your training session" Sakura stretched and stood from the bed, Shikamaru sighed and sat up yawning.

"Aw man what a drag, I thought we could stay in bed a bit longer" Shikamaru looked blearily at the clock and his eyes widened at the time "5:00am troublesome I'm going back to bed" he laid back down and fell asleep.

Sakura rolled her eyes and sat at the desk while pulling out several sheets of paper and started furiously writing on them by the time Yukimaru exited the bathroom, half of them were piled neatly and ready to be sent off.

"What are we going to learn today onee-sama" Yukimaru felt like he could do much more today as they walked down the hall to the training room that already had a lot of people, this caused him to reach out and grasp onto Sakura tightly.

Sakura glanced around the room for an empty spot and found one on the other side of the room, the only people that stood there were Mifune, Ay, Darui, Mei, and Ao "Come on Yukimaru your going to have to get used to it sooner or later" Sakura was gentle but firm in her words.

"I know onee-sama, it's just so scary and I think that they are going to take me away from you" Yukimaru didn't know what it was but every adult he came across, he felt were going to take him away from Sakura.

Sakura pulled him into a hug before sending him off to a little spot away from the adults with his instructions for the day, as she walked over to stand next to Mifune, Mei was the first one to spot her and blink in surprise.

That halted the conversation they were having "Good morning Sakura-chan" Mei hadn't known that Sakura was here but Ay and Darui had because they weren't surprised at her appearance which was vastly different to when she was younger.

"Good Morning" Sakura gave her a kind smile before giving the others a wave and heading off towards a little boy that was doing push ups, Mei immediately wanted to wrap the adorable little boy up in her arms and never let him go.

"Hey Mifune who's the little boy over there" Mei whispered to the grey haired man and pointed at Yukimaru, when Mifune gave her a confused frown "Is he an orphan" Mei wanted to know if he was up for adoption.

Mifune floundered for a moment and then finally spoke "His name is Yukimaru Kamizuru, and as far as I know he technically is but Sakura is taking care of him" he explained to the gathered group of people that looked extremely interested.

"From what I can tell though is that Sakura is extremely protective over the child" he warned Mei as she started walking over to Yukimaru who had moved onto practicing throwing his weapons over and over again.

Mei froze in her spot and instead veered off towards Sakura, just as Shikamaru came trudging into the room and plopped down next to Sakura pressing a kiss to her lips as she wrote down on a sheet of paper.

Suddenly she found their relationship much more interesting "How long have you two been together" Mei gracefully walked across the floor to stand in front of the two who looked up at her in surprise.

"About 4 months" they spoke in sync and then broke down into laughing "Though technically we've been engaged for much longer than that, we've only really been dating since I got back to the village" Sakura explained, Shikamaru nodding along with her explanation.

"So you must be Shikamaru Nara, the guy with zero motivation" Mei remembered the conversation she had, had with Sakura in this very room 3 years ago about liking someone that lived in the Leaf Village.

"Correct and it's a pleasure to meet you Mizukage-sama" Shikamaru nodded his head "Sakura often talks about visiting the Mist Village again and you along with a few others" he explained to Sakura's embarrassment.

At that moment Yukimaru came trotting over having finished his morning exercises, he threw Mei a fearful glance before climbing into Sakura's lap "19 push ups and sit ups, 13 laps, and I can stand farther away from a target and still hit it" Yukimaru recited to Sakura habitually.

"I am so proud of you" Sakura tickled his side filling the room with Yukimaru's laughter "And for doing so good, here is another book to read, we'll be leaving soon" she handed over a book that explained the different kind of weapons there were.

Yukimaru carefully took the book and cradled it to his chest shyly, when he noticed the auburn haired woman staring at him "Oh Yukimaru, this is Mei Terumi the Mizukage of the Mist Village" Sakura introduced him to her.

Yukimaru gave Mei a small wave and huddled against Sakura "I'm sorry Lady Mei, he gets very shy when meeting new people" Sakura explained when Mei questioned her on why he wouldn't talk to her like he would to Sakura.

"Oh well it's ok Yukimaru-kun, your quite safe" Mei gave him a kind smile and a gentle pat on the head "What's it like raising a little kid" she wanted to know, since Mei was entering a political marriage for the benefit of the mist and cloud villages.

"Well we have our spats and Yukimaru has his stubborn moments, but a little compromise and a firm hand, it's easy to get him to behave, not that I have to do much anyway" Sakura smiled at Yukimaru when he giggled innocently.

"Cheeky little monkey, go pack your bag and gather the animals, and wake up Naruto by any means necessary" Sakura nudged the giggling boy off, the minute he was gone Mei turned to Sakura and asked her another question.

"How long are you going to take care of him and is he up for adoption, I wouldn't be opposed to taking him in myself" Mei liked the sweet little boy, she frowned when Sakura shook her head "Well darn" Mei let it go it proved to her that at least he was being raised right.

"Anyway we have to get going" Sakura stood and brushed herself off, they had wasted to much time already, not that Sakura was going to go around and talk to every single one of her contacts, she would send them messages through letters.

Her little group would be going to the artisans village to get Yukimaru set up with his own weapons and gear, and while they were waiting Yukimaru would be training in everything that he could be trained in.

Mei looked a little put out and then an idea came to her "How much time do you have" she enquired as Yukimaru came back into the training room followed by Naruto and the four animals that Sakura had.

"A month well less than a month we've already been out here 4 days" Sakura rattled off and Mei thought for a moment, eyed Sakura and then her friends and the animals and then nodded, she turned back to Sakura and opened her mouth to talk.

"Since we didn't have anytime to put you up last time, would you come spend 2 weeks in the mist village, of course only after you've finished your business" Mei held up her hand to stop Sakura from speaking until she was finished.

"I don't see why not, I have some letters to send and some business in the artisans village and then we can make our way there" Sakura looked at Naruto and Shikamaru first who nodded and then to Yukimaru who looked a little frightened by the thought of staying somewhere else.

Sakura wasn't the only one who had noticed and Mei was quick to try and reassure Yukimaru that he had nothing to be afraid of "It's not indefinitely and I'm sure you can find fun things to do while in the village" Mei offered.

"I'd rather train" Yukimaru sulked, he didn't want to get stuck in another village without Sakura by his side "I will still get to train right Onee-sama" he asked Sakura who nodded and gave him a side hug before releasing him.

Once the conversation was over, Yukimaru hopped onto Midori, Sasuke curled around his neck as per the norm, Kanpecki and Ankaishoku were in his lap as he pulled out his new book to begin reading he was sure he would be having another test tonight.

Shikamaru took his spot next to Sakura and Naruto chose to walk near Midori as they gave the people in the room a wave "See you in a couple of days Lady Mei" Sakura called as the door shut and they headed from the building.

Though the minute they were outside Sakura went through some hand signs "Plume Moth Summoning Jutsu" she swiped her thumb and blood on the tattoo and Rora appeared before Sakura for the 3rd time.

"Sakura-sama what is it that you have called upon me for" Rora leaned her massive body down it had been so long since anyone had given her a task and she was more than ready for it as Sakura began speaking.

"I didn't know that you would appear, I was trying to summon someone smaller, but do you think you could give us a lift to the artisans village and then to the Mist Village" Sakura rambled in confusion, of course when she wasn't trying to summon the huge moth, she got summoned.

"Of course Lady Sakura" Rora leaned down further so that everyone could climb on and then flapped her wings until they were airborne, this was Naruto's first and Shikamaru and Yukimaru's second time flying.

"How come we aren't walking Onee-sama" Yukimaru was confused, was it really that important to visit the mist village and forget everything else, at least he could still read his book up here unlike when they went in the snow.

40 minutes later Rora started lowering herself to the ground and allowed one of her occupants to climb off "Don't worry Yukimaru, stay here with Naruto and Shikamaru" Sakura gave them a wave and ran the rest of the way into the village.

She entered the familiar shop of her friend "Hey Touga" she called startling the man from where he was working on an axe, Touga looked up and saw Sakura with short hair once again, and wondered if she wanted her hair turned into another whip.

"Good to see you Sakura, let me guess you want another hair whip forged" Touga blinked in confusion when she shook her head "Then what have you come here for" he tapped the axe before dipping it into water to cool it off before reheating it to start the process over.

"Well I have to go get someone, I'll be right back" Sakura couldn't believe she made Yukimaru stay behind when she needed him with her in the shop so that he could be measured and looked over for proper attire.

Touga motioned for her to go and she ran from the shop waving to a couple of people in the village and back Rora "Yukimaru I need you to come with me" Sakura helped Yukimaru down off of Rora who was much larger than Tomo.

The two walked back into town and into Touga's shop "Welcome back Sakura-san" Touga greeted and then he turned to Yukimaru "And who are you" Touga asked kindly and the boy hid behind his friend and contractor.

"He's, Yukimaru and kind of shy" Sakura patted Yukimaru "I need to get some weapons and mesh underclothes for Yukimaru forged are you up to the task" Sakura smirked and Touga shook his head in amusement.

"Always, do you have any idea what you would like" Touga took out a notebook filled with Sakura's past request, it was way more than he had made for anyone else, but that was only because Sakura actually paid him an adequate amount for each weapon and accessories.

"Yes, light elbow and shin guards, pale green and magenta colored" Sakura started and gently nudged Yukimaru in Touga's direction as he got out his measuring tape "Kunai, Shuriken, Senbon Needles and ninja wire all in the same color as the guards" she continued.

Touga wrote down the length of Yukimaru's arms and legs and put away his measuring tape, Sakura took a deep breath as Yukimaru wrapped his arms around Sakura's middle "3 kinds of blades, a dagger, a tantou and a regular sword" Sakura rattled off.

"This is gonna be your biggest order yet Sakura-san" Touga wrote down the newest weapons and waited for Sakura to start talking, because it was clear to him that she wasn't even halfway done with her explanation of what she wanted done.

"Your right and I'd do anything for Yukimaru here" Sakura gave the boy a fond smile as he finally came out his shell and stared around the shop in awe while she and Touga were talking, Yukimaru gave her a wave and then continued looking around.

"After the swords, mesh shirt and pants and bandage wraps, I want all the blades to have sheathes, and personal storage scrolls that only activate for him, 2 regular pouches and one medical pouch" Sakura continued Yukimaru would be completely decked out.

"And for the description, on the guards, his initials, Y.K. along with a flower in water blue and a bee in yellow and black, the same for the kunai, shuriken, and senbon" her head started hurting from all the information swirling around in it so she healed it.

"The metal of all the weapons, guards, pouches, scrolls and mesh will be pale green with magenta marks, the hilt of the dagger will be magenta and the blade will be pale green" Sakura continued while watching Yukimaru.

He was reading but she could tell he was excited to know that his favorite colors would be incorporated into everything that he would be getting "The same for the other two, and the sheath will be the opposite, magenta with pale green markings" she took another deep breath.

"The pouch for the dagger will be black and each one will have his initials and the identifying mark, on the pouch though will be his full name and the mark, Yukimaru Kamizuru" Sakura stopped for a moment and let Touga write down the information.

Touga was in disbelief, was the boy worth wasting that much money on, he didn't think so but with the way Sakura seemed to care for everyone to a degree that was inhuman, she most likely thought Yukimaru was worth it.

"For the bandage wraps they will be magenta with pale green marks and the identifying mark no initials and then for the medical pouch, pale green with magenta marks, his full name and the identifying mark" Sakura started talking again.

"For the scrolls, magenta with pale green and his full name and the mark and the last two pouches pale green with magenta marks once again his full name and the flower in water blue and bee in yellow and black" she was almost finished.

"Make the mesh light and breathable, along with the now familiar colors no mark or initials, and one more thing a gourd, medium sized and able to hold water" Sakura held up her hands how long she wanted the gourd "It will clip onto a belt" she finally finished.

Touga wrote down everything, it would probably take him over two weeks to finish everything, and then he repeated the order to Sakura who nodded, handed over a pouch filled with ryo for the payment, took Yukimaru by the hand and left the shop.

"Will be back in 3 weeks, see ya later Touga" Sakura called over her shoulder as the flap closed and they walked back through town to where Rora and the others were waiting "Sorry it was a long order" she leaned back Yukimaru right next to her as Rora took off.

"It's alright we weren't bored and hey Sakura do you think we can visit the grass village and that temple we visited before" Naruto enquired in his perpetual naivete, he must of forgot what the worshippers of the temple did.

"Sure, you heard him Rora, one more stop, we'll probably stay there tonight" Sakura grimaced when she noticed the curiosity in Yukimaru's eyes and before he could ask "Sorry Yukimaru it's a grown up temple they do grown up things there" Sakura hinted towards Shikamaru.

Yukimaru squeaked in embarrassment as his little face turned a bright red "That's ok Onee-sama, I think I'll just stay at the hotel and read until you give me the test tonight" Yukimaru waved off his curiosity and Sakura laughed.

Midori however wanted no part in going back to the grass village and let Sakura know with a reprimanding nip to the wrist "Mistress, is it such a good idea for me to go back there" Midori was angry and Sakura knew it now.

"I'm sorry Midori, I didn't think if you want to wander around outside the village until the next morning that's ok, I'll go into the shop and see if they have a substitute milk for the pups" Sakura tried to offer a compromise.

"No that's ok Sakura, I know you didn't mean anything by it and I'll stay with Yukimaru so don't bother" Midori gave Sakura a lick in apology as Rora landed the group hurriedly climbed off and Rora went back to her mountain home.

Before they entered the village Sakura summoned Shiki and tied a pouch around his body before having him memorized pictures and several different scents before sending him off to deliver the messages to the rest of her contacts.

Once Yukimaru was in the room she would be sharing with him and Shikamaru, while Naruto took a separate one the animals would be staying with him, the 3 of them left the hotel and went to visit the Jashinists temple.

"Sakura when are you gonna tell me the truth about yourself" Naruto stopped them just outside the temple, he had been thinking and something had been bugging him since that day and how comfortable Sakura had seemed walking in the temple with Hidan.

"Are you a worshipper to" he whispered and Sakura gave him an exasperated smile but didn't deny it "Why Sakura, pervy sage told me that they go around killing people for fun" Naruto was rambling, he hoped Sakura wasn't doing that.

"If the worshipper is a crazy lunatic, but think about it Naruto, what if the worshippers went around taking down the bad guys or anyone that could be a threat" Sakura questioned wanting to see how Naruto would respond.

"Well if it was just the bad guys, then why aren't these temples more world known and why isn't there one in the Leaf Village" Naruto shouted, if these guys were the good guys then how come they weren't getting more credit for taking down the bad guys.

"That's a good idea Naruto, maybe when Shikamaru and I get married, we'll open up a jashinists temple and shop and help people become more open to the idea of jashinism" Sakura, just had a brilliant idea and it was all thanks to Naruto.

Naruto chuckled and then all three of them went into the temple where they were immediately bombarded by the worshippers "Princess Sakura" they bowed and the head of the temple Yami approached carrying the ceremonial dagger like last time.

"Yami-san, it's a pleasure to be in your presence again" Sakura titled her head in greeting as soon as he was within hearing distance "I would be honored to join in on the ritual tonight, but leading will be up to you" Sakura smiled sweetly before Yami could ask.

"Of course Princess we would be honored to have you for the ritual" Yami then turned his soul searching violet eyes onto Naruto and Shikamaru "Are they new acolytes to the temple" he questioned Sakura.

"No we would like to watch the ritual but we won't be joining" Shikamaru spoke for him and Naruto who nodded in agreement to Shikamaru "We can watch right" Shikamaru wanted to make sure so that he didn't piss anyone of.

"If the Princess wishes for you two to watch then I'm sure no one would object" Yami's response was calm as the others cheered "You have your answer" Yami turned and led the group further into the temple where the evening ritual would be taking place.

"Hey Sakura why do they call you princess" Naruto nudged Sakura's shoulder when she was about to head off to change clothes so that her current ones wouldn't get dirty or bloody since it was a blood letting ritual.

"Well the god they are worshipping to, is my real father whether you believe it or not is really up to you but I've met Jashin and I know he exists" Sakura explained to Naruto who just nodded in acceptance.

If Sakura could accept him for having a nine tailed demon fox inside of him, then he could accept and believe anything Sakura told him because honestly she had never lied to him before, sure she hid the truth but if he asked she always told him.

Sakura gave the two males a wave and ducked into an empty room to change her clothes when she came out it took Shikamaru's breath away, she was wearing all black and her short hair had been tied back.

It was a replica of the white outfit Hidan had gotten for her the last time they had been here, her headband was sealed away in a scroll with her clothes and she was barefoot as she padded across the floor to stand before Shikamaru.

He pressed a quick kiss to her lips before she walked gracefully to a spot in the third row Yami took his place on the biggest symbol while the others sat on their knees in the regular sized symbol, and then Yami started the ritual.

As one the entire congregation began speaking "Black Candles Burning Jashin Invoked" the black candles around Yami lit and each of them slit their wrist and let it flow through the cracks of the ground Naruto and Shikamaru watched on in morbid curiosity.

"Sigils drawn, flesh is cut" came the next part of the spoken ritual as everyone cut another part of their body the blood flowing thick and slow as they sat in their individual symbols and the room darkened just barely.

The two spectators didn't even dare to speak as the air crackled with a malevolent aura, one that Shikamaru had been briefly acquainted with "An offering is made in the Masters name" Naruto winced as the worshippers jabbed the daggers into their knee's.

"I have given you, Jashin, my life force" followed the last and hisses of pain filled the air, Sakura remained unaffected, unlike last time as Yami led the worshippers into the next line of the ritual, only half way done.

"My blood spilt for your victory" the words were recited in perfect sync as everyone dragged their daggers across their stomachs "My soul is my ultimate sacrifice to you, my master" Sakura grit her teeth this time feeling pain wash over her in waves.

She could feel her father in the back of her mind pushing her to fall over the edge of blissful pleasure but the ritual wasn't finished, so she pushed on to Shikamaru's amazement "Darkness overcomes me, and I bask in its infernal pleasures" Sakura was feeling it now.

'Let go my child you don't have to continue' Jashin knew that Sakura could finish but the effects of this ritual would last a long time and he didn't want her to go through that again after she had complained about feeling numb.

Sakura knew that Jashin was right so she quickly did one last cut and then fell over on the floor as the rest of the ritual continued on, she woke up first before the others, her body was clean and healed and Shikamaru was waiting for her with arms held open.

She hopped up and jumped into his arms with a laugh, pressed a kiss to his cheek, gave Yami a wave and walked into the room she had used earlier, when she came out she was wearing her shinobi gear once again.

They headed back to the hotel in silence only a couple of hours had passed and Sakura wanted to check on Yukimaru, when she and Shikamaru entered the room he was practicing his taijutsu without a practice dummy.

"I finished the book Onee-sama and I'm ready for the test" Yukimaru bounced up and down excitably, he had finished reading 20 minutes ago and figured he would spend the time while he was waiting for Sakura to return, practicing.

"Ok just a minute" Sakura dug through back and handed the pre made test over to Yukimaru, just then someone knocked on the door to the hotel room and Sakura quickly opened it to see an unfamiliar man.

"Your Sakura Aburame right" he asked looking seriously confused, when Sakura nodded "You bought a white wolf from the pet shop here in the grass village years ago" he questioned and once again Sakura nodded.

"My name is Hikaru and the previous owner of the store the one who captured the wolf, died and I took over, I have an extremely sick owl in there and I have no idea what to do" it was obvious that he was panicking so Sakura tried to calm him down.

"I'll do my best Hikaru, but be warned I've never worked with an owl before" Sakura would do her best to help the owl and get her to better health Hikaru gave her a wave and ran from the hotel to retrieve the sick owlet.

Several minutes later Hikaru came back "This is the little lady" he handed over the malnourished owlet and Sakura checked her over before sighing "Is it bad" Hikaru noticed the sad expression on Sakura's face and was worried that he was to late in getting her help.

"It's extremely bad, she was born premature so she's underdeveloped, her feathers give her no buffer from the cold, and she's malnourished, running a high fever and her foot is broken, she has a cold that's why her eyes are goopy like that and her wings have been broken" Sakura rattled off all the symptons.

"What can be done to save her" Hikaru felt it was hopeless to ask but he tried anyway just because he loved animals and never wanted them to suffer and it was clear this little owlet had been suffering for quite awhile.

"She needs a lot of care, I'd be willing to take her off your hands for a small fee consider me taking care of her as most of your payment not to mention, I'll probably be by later to buy some supplies from your store" Sakura wasn't willing to give Hikaru much because the owlet was in such bad condition.

"I'll do anything just please don't let her die, I'm begging you, I couldn't stand it if she died and then that would make me look bad" Hikaru begged and Sakura was taken aback "I'm not like the previous owner, I actually care about what happens to the animals" Hikaru explained and Sakura handed him 400 ryo.

"Just take care of the rest of them and leave this little one to me" Sakura waved Hikaru off when she turned Yukimaru was giggling and Shikamaru was shaking his head "What" she snapped softly not wanting to scare the owlet.

"How are you going to take care of so many animals and Yukimaru" Shikamaru was curious, not that he had much of a problem with the newest additions or that he thought Sakura couldn't take care of them, it's just that if Sakura wasn't careful she'd find herself housing many more.

"With the missions I take on and hunting down a few B Ranked bounty here and there, I have more than enough to fill my home with a zoo" Sakura stated simply and almost cursed when she remembered that she had to buy some things at the pet store.

"Shikamaru hold her for a minute, I've got to go get some supplies" Sakura handed over the owlet that she had yet to name "You finish that test by the time I get back" she told Yukimaru and then exited the room.

"Onee-sama always seems to be in a hurry" Yukimaru noted easily, Sakura was always on her feet doing something, she didn't like dawdling or being lazy unless it came to cuddling with him, Shikamaru or the animals.

Shikamaru took a moment to respond "Just one of the many reasons I love her" he admitted, it made him want to not be clinically lazy all the time "And trust me Yukimaru there are many reasons" Shikamaru chuckled and cradled the owlet carefully in his arms.

"Sakura-san what are you doing here" Hikaru looked up from the behind the counter when the door opened, it hadn't been even 15 minuts since he had handed over the little owlet and got payed more than he thought he would for her.

"Need to buy some supplies" Sakura moved to a shelf and hefted a few bags of Midori's favorite treats into a cart and then walked down the aisle that held collars and picked up a few for the newest additions to her little collection of animals.

For Kanpecki, she chose a magenta colored collar and would have his name engraved on it in pale green and the mark she chose for Yukimaru, for Ankaishoku she chose an orange collar and would have his name engraved on it in dark grey.

The mark she would put on Ankaishoku's collar would be fox ears in light grey at the beginning and end of the name, and for the owlet which she had just decided to name Sukikyo the collar would be red and her name would be in brown along with a feather in brown.

Once she was finished picking out collars, Sakura moved down the aisle again and started picking up things for the newest additions like mashed worms and mice, and then red meat for the fox and some other things along with medical supplies for animals.

After she payed Hikaru for the amount of things she bought, Sakura sealed everything in a scroll and ran back to the hotel where Yukimaru, Shikamaru and Naruto along with all the animals were waiting for her.

"She's been hooting up a storm and I can't get her to stop" Shikamaru was clearly panicking as Sukikyo, not that the others knew her name yet, hooted and flapped about in Shikamaru's arms, Sakura noticed the problem immediately.

"Sukikyo is uncomfortable, she's gonna need a lot of gentle care" Sakura winced as Sukikyo's wings flopped about uselessly that was one of the reasons she needed to get the hard part over with so that Sukikyo could get on the road of recovery.

"What are you gonna do onee-sama" Yukimaru had long since finished his test and had been patiently waiting for Sakura to return, he had wanted to take the little owlet into his arms and sooth her but she had already bitten Shikamaru and didn't want to get bit himself.

Sakura pressed her lips together, she didn't want to do this either but it needed to be done "Your test will be graded later, go with Naruto and read for a bit" Sakura ordered as gently as she could, Yukimaru didn't need to see this.

"Ok onee-sama" Yukimaru quickly grabbed the book she held out and scrambled from the room with Naruto and the others in tow except for Shikamaru, who held the owlet out, she immediately bit Sakura.

Sakura gently tied a harness around Sukikyo's beak and then went about breaking Sukikyo's wings so that she could set them properly and then heal them, Sukikyo didn't like this one bit and tried to fly away but she couldn't.

Sakura clenched her eyes shut as tears fell from her eyes, Shikamaru quickly swiped them away and spoke soothingly to her "It's ok Sakura, your doing what needs to be done so that Sukikyo can fly" he kissed her cheeks and ran his hand through her hair.

Once the bones were set properly, Sakura sniffling healed the wings and then tied wraps around the wings and removed the harness, then she wrapped a warm blanket around the owlet so that her feathers could grow.

After she was done with that, Sakura cleaned the owlets eyes and gave her a drop of medicine to bring down the fever and get rid of the cold, then she took a spoon and carefully fed Sukikyo the mashed up worms.

By the time Sakura was finished with everything Sukikyo was falling asleep, so she carefully transfered the owl to her padded bed, that Sakura had bought just for the owlet, it was reminiscent of the nest she was born in.

Next she walked over to the desk and quietly graded Yukimaru's test when she was finished with that Sakura spoke to Shikamaru "Thank you and would you mind getting Yukimaru for me" she requested and Shikamaru nodded and left the room.

A few seconds later the door opened and the little boy walked into the room, tears streaming down his cheeks, he had heard the owlet making a pained noise and it had emotionally hurt him, he knew there had to be a reason for it though so he didn't ask.

Instead he wrapped his arms around Sakura and the two of them just held onto the other "Will Sukikyo be alright now" Yukimaru sniffled and pulled away to look at the resting owlet, his eyes wandered to the doorway where Naruto and the other animals appeared.

"Yes, I believe so" Sakura wiped away the tears and kissed Yukimaru on the top of his head and then gave him the test this time he had gotten 100% on it "Is there something you need Naruto" Sakura turned her attention onto Naruto.

"Mind if we crash here on the couch tonight" Naruto grinned sheepishly, to be honest, none of them should be alone not after the last couple of hours, he had never seen an animal in such poor condition and wanted to be close by.

"Sure Naruto, lets all get to bed early tonight, so that we can wake up early and get some early morning training in before I summon Rora or whoever that comes and we go to the Mist Village" Sakura curled up next to Shikamaru on the bed.

Naruto took the other as Yukimaru laid inbetween the two teens and the animals all crowded on his bed, a few minutes later all of them were out like a light, a couple hours later Sakura woke, administered the medicine to Sukikyo before feeding her again and then fell back to sleep.

Sakura woke much earlier than the others and once again fed Sukikyo, then she remembered that she had to go back to the pet shop so she woke the others and they trotted off to pay for the things and then left the grass village.

On the way out Sakura clipped collars around each of the new animals, a couple miles away from the village she handed out a light lunch and then Yukimaru quickly went through his regular training session.

When Sakura used her summoning jutsu, Tomo came out this time and within minutes they were well on their way to the Mist Village, they were just crossing some hills and only 2 miles away from the village when Sakura told Tomo to let them off.

Once Tomo had gone Sakura turned to Yukimaru "Chakra training, we'll walk the last two miles and you'll use chakra every step of the way" Sakura took off at a slower pace than usual so that Yukimaru didn't go to fast to keep up.

By the time they made it Yukimaru was sufficiently sore but nonetheless pleased with himself as Sakura wrote down the progress he had made in her little notebook and snapped it shut with a pleased smile of her own.

"Read for the rest of the day and then tonight another test" Sakura gave him a energy pill to give him a small boost as they entered the mist village, Sakura led them straight to the Mizukage Building, where Mei was waiting inside.

"We've got 2 hotel rooms set up for the 4 of you" Mei started "Now as I understand it, your a pretty good medic" she continued once they had all sat in the chair, Sakura nodded her head but so did the blonde which confused Mei.

Sakura smiled at Naruto, he hadn't used medical ninjutsu in front of her yet but he must be pretty adept at it "I know plenty as well" Naruto admitted sheepishly when Mei motioned for him to speak.

"Well then can I ask something of the both of you" Mei asked and the two of them nodded "The hospital needs shaping up and I think you two are just the right people to do it" she rattled off and Shikamaru chuckled.

"Of course Mei-sama we'd be honored to help" Sakura was the first to speak, she needed to feed Sukikyo, Naruto nodded next and Mei motioned for Zabuza to direct them to their hotel, and then Naruto and Sakura to the hospital when they were ready.

"Your all grown up now" Zabuza noted as they walked down the street to the hotel and passing by the tattoo shop Sakura got her first tattoo's at, that reminded her, she needed to get a few more for the other animals that had been added.

"Yeah that's what happens when you don't see someone for a longtime" Sakura quipped and Zabuza chuckled and then motioned to the hotel "Wait here, I just need to do one thing" Sakura told him before he could leave.

Sakura rushed into the hotel, shrugged her pack off, fed Sukikyo and then taught Shikamaru what to do incase they didn't come back in a few hours time, she promised Yukimaru that when she got back he would learn something new.

On her way out, Sakura ran into Naruto and the both of them exited the hotel where Zabuza was still waiting, then he led them back down the street to the run down looking hospital "It's not much but it's all we have" Zabuza saw Sakura's expression.

"Well it looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us" Sakura had determination in her eyes, she was set on turning this hospital around in just two weeks "First we'll evaluate the hospital staff the real work will start tomorrow" Sakura nodded to Naruto who grinned in excitement.

The two gave Zabuza a wave and entered the hospital, when nobody paid them any attention Sakura wrote down the first problem in a separate notebook "Be loud" she murmured to Naruto who took the hint and stood on a bed.

"HEY EVERYONE LISTEN UP WE ARE MEDICAL NINJA FROM THE LEAF VILLAGE COME TO TURN THIS HOSPITAL AROUND YOU KNOW" as usual he was loud and obnoxious but it got the staffs attention as they began gathering around.

Sakura wrote down the time it took for someone to start reacting to Naruto's admission and she was severely disappointed "Your just a couple of brats" the man that was supposed to be head medic came around the corner and accused them.

"They aren't and Mei sent me to make sure you were treating her special guests kindly Yoku" everyone turned to spot Ao leaning against a wall and eyeing the head medic with a sneer on his lips, hopefully the job would go to someone better.

"You left so fast Lady Mizukage didn't have a chance to give you the list of the best medical graduates from last batches graduates" Ao held up a list and Sakura quickly grabbed it, to look it over before cracking her knuckles to get to work.

Naruto who knew the expression on Sakura's face well, took a large step back to let her deal with the people "Listen up, I'm not going to be loud like my friend here, now everyone is going to be reevaluated starting now" Sakura ordered.

Sakura had them line up and demonstrate their medical ninjutsu, when everyone had gone including the head medic, she motioned to Naruto and they went over the notes that Sakura had already compiled and then made some major decisions.

"Yoku, Nami, Sora, Ikuto, Yoru, Ami, and Rin" Sakura called the 7 people out "Your officially fired, your medical skills aren't even adequate enough to even call yourself medical ninja" she was ruthless and cared nothing for the idiots that thought they were good enough.

"This is outrageous" Yoku stared complaining immediately, his entire lifes work ruined because of some bitch with pink hair, before he could get much further Ao took hold of his white doctors coat and motioned for the others and they were quickly pushed out the hospital doors.

Naruto took over this time after giving Ao, who had come back, a list of the graduates Sakura wanted in the hospital, while Sakura ordered the rest of the remaining staff to start cleaning up, there were no patients at the moment so it was time for a massive reorganization.

Meanwhile Sakura headed down the hall her heeled boots clacking loudly on the tile and into the ex head medics office to grab all of his files and get someone in there to clean up the entire office and then headed back to Naruto who was helping out with the cleaning.

A large amount of clones, well over 50 were helping scrub every inch of the hospital both inside and out until it was squeaky clean, then all the tools were cleaned and cabinets were restocked until all that was left was to organize the files and get the hospital up and running again.

5 hours later Naruto and Sakura left the hospital, it looked much better than before and the villagers of the Mist Village were already noticing, as they headed back to the hotel, folders upon folders shoved in each of their arms.

"Come on Yukimaru are you ready to learn something new" Sakura was tired when she entered the room and stacked the folders on the desk, Yukimaru jumped up and nodded his head eagerly before following Sakura from the room.

Shikamaru assured her that he could take care of Sukikyo while she taught Yukimaru, once they were 20 ft outside the village Sakura turned to Yukimaru and ran through her list of jutsu and wondered which one she should teach him first.

"What am I going to learn" Yukimaru was getting tired of doing the same thing everyday and wanted something new, instead of talking Sakura turned to the water and went through a set of hand signs deliberately slow for Yukimaru.

"Water Style: Water Shotgun Jutsu" Sakura pointed her fingers at a tree as water formed and swirled at the tips and then shot off going straight through the tree and several more after that before turning back to Yukimaru.

He was looking fearfully at her for the first time in months, apparently he had just realized how dangerous she could be and that she was much more frightening than Orochimaru could ever be and was glad that Sakura was on his side and not someone elses.

Yukimaru shook his head and then repeated the hand signs Sakura had showed him before doing a much weaker version of the jutsu "I guess I'll have to practice huh Onee-sama" he scuffed his shoe on the ground sheepishly.

"Just know Yukimaru that I will never hurt you and yeah but that's one of the reasons we are out here in the first place" Sakura gave him a reassuring smile and led the two of them back to the hotel so that Yukimaru could read and she could work.

The minute she sat down, she was immersed in organizing everything Sukikyo was perched on her shoulder hooting softly, now that she was on the mend she was much calmer and easier to handle and feed when it came time to be fed.

Sakura flipped through a folder and groaned Yoku had been an absolute idiot, she started creating piles in alphabetic order and then started sorting through them and correcting the errors on the paperwork before putting them back into folders and marking them.

Then she wrote a detailed training regimen that she wanted all the staff and the newbies to go through that would be taught by both her and Naruto, when she was finished, Sakura handed a test over to Yukimaru who had finished his little book earlier.

"I'll be right back, have to grab some files from Naruto" Sakura should have told him earlier that she would go through them, but when she entered Naruto's hotel room the folders were neatly compiled properly and Naruto was knocked out the little ones sleeping across his chest.

Midori was napping on the other bed snoring softly as Sakura quietly tiptoed out of the room and shut the door softly and headed back to her hotel room, where Yukimaru and Shikamaru were sitting on one bed and Yukimaru was working on his test.

"Tomorrow after your regular training session, we'll step up your training a bit" Sakura thought it was time to take Yukimaru's training up a notch and train his senses so that he wouldn't be caught off guard whenever he got old enough to be assigned on a team.

When Yukimaru was finished Sakura graded it and then after he had looked at the grade she put it in a folder and sealed it in a scroll for safekeeping and then Sukikyo was fed once again and they all curled up on the bed to fall asleep.

Every few hours Sakura woke to feed Sukikyo and then as the sun crested over the mountain and bathed the village in a light and a cloud of mist, Sakura woke for the final time and roused the other occupants of the room.

Naruto woke up on his own and entered the room yawning "What time are we heading over to the hospital" he asked tiredly and plopped down on the couch as Sakura fed Sukikyo and then motioned for Yukimaru to go take a shower and dress warmly.

"After I get Yukimaru set up on the training session, and Shikamaru do you think you can watch him and the animals today and tomorrow" Sakura bit her lip this would be the end of the first week major test and wanted to see how much Yukimaru could withstand.

"Sure Sakura" Shikamaru knew that she had something big planned, he gave her a quick kiss and murmured in her ear "I love you" Shikamaru kissed her again before pulling completely away just as Yukimaru exited the bathroom.

The 4 of them left the hotel room along with all the animals "Practice everything you've learned today, Shikamaru will be watching and he'll tell me everything, when he's done have Yukimaru read this" She addressed both boys and then gave them a wave.

Once Naruto and Sakura entered the hospital they quickly got to work setting the staff and newbies up on the new schedule, it took over half the day to explain what they wanted as the two took turns teaching the class new things.

By the time they left, everything was organized and the staff was much doing much better, as they entered the hotel, Shikamaru told Sakura everything Yukimaru had done and the improvement before Sakura once again gave Yukimaru a test.

Once he was finished and the test was graded, Sakura fed Sukikyo again and then hopped up "I'll be back in a bit" she gave the two a wave again and then rushed from the hotel and up to Mei's office to speak with her.

Does this village have an indoor training course for beginners" Sakura immediately asked when Mei motioned for her to talk "The reason is it's the end of the week and I want to see how much Yukimaru has improved" she explained.

"I have a personal one here in the basement of this building, you have permission to use it during the next two weeks" Mei offered and then gave her directions on how to get down there and Sakura took off she wanted everything set up for tomorrow.

When she made it to the basement Sakura looked around in amazement, but took a deep breath, first she set up several targets, each one a further distance than the next one, then Sakura set up a wooden log.

When she was done with that, Sakura outlined the course in which Yukimaru would run before setting up a bunch of logs in a row to evaluate the force of Yukimaru's jutsu, finally Sakura was finished and so she headed back to the hotel.

Sakura made up a test for Yukimaru so that she could determine how much information Yukimaru retained in a weeks time and then made up a test on his newest book, it was all getting repetitive to her and surely Yukimaru as well.

Once he had finished the test getting a 98 on it, it was sealed in the scroll with the other 6 and then they all curled up on the bed to go to sleep Sukikyo was feeling much better and could move up to 4 hour feedings.

The next morning Yukimaru got a scrub down and then everyone trailed outside, before they headed towards the kage building, Sakura and Naruto checked in on the hospital and found it running much smoother than two days ago.

Getting into the building and down to the basement Yukimaru groaned sulking in his thoughts but obediently stood in front of Sakura when she beckoned him to do so "This is your end of the week test" Sakura informed him.

"Everything you learned this week, is being all rolled into one big evaluation to test how much you've improved" she continued and motioned for him to stand in front of the targets and start going through the course.

As he started throwing his kunai at the targets, Mei, Zabuza, Utakata, Ao and Haku sat on the benches to watch, once he had hit each target he switched hands until he moved onto shuriken and then senbon needles, Yukimaru only stopped when Sakura called out for him to do so.

"Very good top marks like usual, just a fraction of an inch to the right and you'd hit straight in the center" Sakura praised and gave him a small piece of honey comb, this was only the beginning of the course she had set up for him.

"Thank you onee-sama, let me guess I have to punch and kick the log" Yukimaru sighed when Sakura nodded, he licked his fingers clean and then moved over to the log and started punching and kicking it with much more strength than he had in the beginning.

It began cracking under the force of his attacks "Sakura what the heck have you been teaching the kid" Zabuza hadn't seen this much improvement in Haku until 2 years after he had taken the boy on as his apprentice.

"Let me just say Yukimaru is a bit more gifted than your average child and with his special abilities he needs to know everything he can to defend himself" Sakura explained, not revealing what he could truly do.

"And only the standard academy level training regimen, of course now that Yukimaru's trained under me this last week, he'll be way ahead of his class" Sakura smirked, she didn't have anything to worry about except for the 3 idiots that wanted to make her life difficult.

A loud crash startled Sakura and she looked over to Yukimaru and the now broken log "Amazing job Yukimaru" she rushed over to him and lifted Yukimaru up into her arms to spin him around briefly before setting Yukimaru back down.

Another piece of honeycomb followed which was quickly gobbled down by Yukimaru "How much more" Yukimaru wanted to know so that he could look forward to going to bed, he didn't know that there was so much more though.

"A lot now, you see the tall log over there, climb it all the way and balance on the top before coming back down" Sakura explained she wanted to see how high Yukimaru could climb now that his chakra reserves had grown massively.

Yukimaru grinned, he had been practicing without Sakura knowing and he could climb all the way up that log, he pushed chakra into his feet and then ran all the way up the tree to Sakura's amazement and then Yukimaru gracefully landed on his feet.

"I'm not scared of falling anymore Onee-sama" Yukimaru scuffed his shoe shyly when Sakura smiled at him fondly before Sakura could tell him what to do next, Yukimaru laid down on the ground started doing his push ups.

Like Sakura had asked him at the beginning of the week, he managed to pull out 25 pushups and then he rolled over and did 25 sits up before standing and holding out his hand for the piece of honeycomb Sakura had for him.

The others were silently laughing, apparently the kid had a love for honeycombs "15 laps right Onee-sama" Yukimaru once again cleaned his fingers and moved over to begin running his laps when Sakura nodded at him to do so.

He pumped chakra into his legs to speed up as he ran around the outlined course as the others watched on while he was busy a messenger ran into the room with a message for Mei, when she read it she quickly ran from the room.

By the time she came back Yukimaru had finished with his laps and had moved onto showing how powerful his water shotgun had become, it went through 2 logs before coming to a halting stop as Mei approached Sakura.

"Tsunade will be here in the village in two days and when she leaves you and the others will be going with her, you've got a lot of harships coming in the future Sakura" Mei gave Sakura a sad smile that told Sakura that something had happened.

Sakura didn't ask, instead she gathered Yukimaru up and told him they were moving onto the next part of the test and that it was outside, she knew everything would be revealed in due time as they headed to a river.

"Show me what I taught you" she instructed and before Sakura knew it everyone was sitting down eating fish and berries, the fish were layered in herbs that Yukimaru had picked and the fire was built by Yukimaru as well.

"I'm extremely proud of you Yukimaru" Sakura poured honey over his berries to tide him over until after he took his written exam, once they got back to the hotel room, Yukimaru was sat at the desk and Sakura handed over the biggest written exam he'd ever seen.

"How long do I have to complete it" Yukimaru had started marking down answers with ease, he remembered everything from the other books, but he was curious because Sakura hadn't given him a time limit like usual.

"No time limit just complete it and then I'll grade it and we can relax for the next several days, I'll have to pick up your training when we have time again" Sakura was a little upset, even though she had completed her original mission for being outside the village.

She had still wanted to train Yukimaru in everything she could Sakura flopped back on the bed with a groan, she sat up a moment later and checked Sukikyo over finding her in much better health she laid back again.

An hour later Yukimaru called out that he was finished and Sakura quickly graded it after marking down everything "Congratulations Yukimaru perfect scores like usual" Sakura gave him a bigger piece of honeycomb as a reward.

They spent the rest of the day lounging around until it was time to go to bed, like usual Shikamaru, Sakura and Yukimaru all curled up on the bed together and fell into a peaceful slumber.


	12. Of Decisions and Shocks

The next two days passed by slowly as Sakura had Yukimaru do a few new things, she also took the time to get a few more tattoo's, it was half way into the second day when Sakura felt the approaching chakra of several people including Tsunades.

Sakura gave Naruto, Shikamaru and Yukimaru a wave, before heading out the door of their hotel room, Mei had requested that only Sakura join in on the meeting, because Sakura would have a much clearer head if the others weren't around.

When she entered the meeting room, Sakura spotted all the Kages and their escorts sitting around a huge table "Sit next to Tsunade, Sakura-san" Mifune was there as well, which made whatever the problem was that much more serious than Sakura had previously thought.

Sakura nodded her head and sat silently in the empty chair "We have gathered here today to discuss the 3 tailed turtle, Tsunade and a squad of her chunin and apprentice caught" Mifune read from the paper.

"That's right" Tsunade nodded her head, Sakura was silently thanking the Mizukage, she didn't think she'd be able to have this conversation with Yukimaru in the room "We need to discuss who will bare the burden of becoming it's host" Tsunade continued.

Gaara was the first one to speak "My village has enough problems as it is with me already having a tailed beast within me, so count me out" he shook his head, Gaara didn't want his village to have another reason to hate him again.

"Two tailed beast hosts are way to much for us" Ay glared at Bee from the corner of his eye "Let it go to someone else" Ay huffed and glared around the table daring anyone to object to his refusal of another tailed beast in his village.

"Unruly Ay is right, two hosts are a bit much and there is no reason to add another to our list" Ohnoki waved the attention off of him easily, Han and Roshi were a handful but thankfully after coming into contact with Sakura they had calmed down quite a bit.

"Waterfall Village went so far as to refuse coming to this meeting, people maybe coming around to liking the girl that hosts the Seven Tails but by no means do they want another" Mifune read off a message from the letter he held in his hands.

Several minutes passed after the last refusal as the two female Kages stared the other down before Mei finally spoke "The turtle originally belonged to the Mist Village, but with past problems on behalf of my village, I'll be refusing" she sighed when Tsunade glared at her.

Tsunade pressed her lips together angrily and stared around the table before slamming her hand down on the table with more restraint than Sakura thought she had "Sakura a word with you please" Tsunade gave her a pained look.

"What is it Lady Tsunade" Sakura thought she knew what Tsunade wanted to ask, and there was no way in hell that she was putting Yukimaru through anymore problems, Sakura would take on the task herself if it meant being able to keep him safe.

"Since the other villages have refused, that leaves the Leaf Village and while I want to refuse, I can't, so I'd like to ask you, if you Sakura Kamizuru would become the new host to the three tailed turtle" Tsunade sighed she had thought long and hard about this.

"Oh" Sakura was startled out of her thoughts of protecting Yukimaru at the admission from Tsunade, that she wanted her to become the new host "Well that's a relief" Sakura sighed herself to the confusion of everyone.

Tsunade blinked, she had thought Sakura would put up much more fuss than that "Why do you say that Sakura" Tsunade asked when Sakura didn't say anything else, she was being way to compliant with the demand being put on her.

"If you had told me that you wanted Yukimaru as the new host, I probably wouldn't be as level headed, I'd do anything to keep that away from him" Sakura explained and suddenly it all became clear to Tsunade.

Sakura truly loved the little boy she had saved, it had only taken that one day and Sakura was hooked, Tsunade saw the way she treated the boy as if he were her own child, and knew that if she ever had children, Yukimaru would still be loved as equally as before.

Tsunade wouldn't admit it but the thought had crossed her mind, but the ultimate choice had been Sakura because, for some reason her presence calmed the beasts and with Sakura in control of one of them it would give Sakura a larger part in the world.

"Excuse me but who is Yukimaru" the only person who hadn't met the little boy was Gaara and he was confused, how did the topic change from Sakura becoming a tailed beast host to someone he had never heard of.

Sakura gave Gaara a sheepish smile "Yukimaru is a little boy that I'm taking care of, he's my apprentice and I intend to adopt him as soon as I turn 18" she gave a huff when the females in the room laughed.

"Can we get back on the subject" Ay was glad that the pinkette was handling this with a more leveled head than most of the adults in the room but he wanted to get this meeting over with so that he could go home.

That brought the subject of Sakura becoming a new host back up "So your sure that this is what you want" Mei hadn't thought that her refusal of accepting the beast into her village would give Sakura another burden especially one of such large degree.

"Yes Lady Mei besides I can handle myself and how hard could it be" Sakura shrugged her shoulders "And I've been told repeatedly by other tailed beast hosts that I'm soothing to them" she brought up another point.

Everyone looked around until they stared at Bee and Gaara "Sakura is correct, before we went to the Leaf Village for the chunin exams, I had so much rage bottled up inside of me" Gaara started, he disliked talking about his past but this memory he looked back on quite fondly.

"It was like the minute I walked through the gates, Shukaku calmed down and all the rage disappeared, the closer I got to Sakura the more relaxed we both got until I no longer felt anything but peace" he continued with a fond smile in Sakura's direction.

Sakura smiled back before taking a deep breath, she needed to get everything out on the table, she wanted to make a demand of her own "What about your dad and brother, not to mention your aunt and uncles" Tsunade asked smugly.

"I think they would be proud, but there is something I'd like to tell all of you and this time Lady Tsunade I need you to keep an open mind" Sakura turned to Tsunade, the last time she had mentioned this Tsunade had thought she was crazy but now she had proof.

Tsunade frowned in concern, what on earth was Sakura talking about, keeping an open mind was easy "Alright let's just get this over with" she tapped her nails on the desk impatiently as Sakura asked for another chair.

And then to the amazement of everyone but Gaara, Shikaku and Inoichi, Sakura poured red liquid on the floor and formed it in the circle and triangle symbol they were unfamiliar with except for those mentioned.

Sakura began chanting, she poured more chakra into the symbol than usual so that Jashin would have 30 minutes in this world "Oh Mighty Jashin, grace this world with your presence, and set all nonbelievers to right" she raised her hands skyward finishing the chant.

Tsunade was about to smack the girl, Jashin didn't exist how many times did she have to tell Sakura that and then the ground started shaking as the entire symbol blackened and from the darkness someone rose up.

Jashin appeared with his long white hair and piercing red eyes, it was a wonder everyone remained calm as he sat down in the chair his daughter gestured at, Tsunade felt faint looking at the god of slaughter, Sakura had been telling the truth and now here Jashin sat.

Her hands were shaking as she addressed the immortal being "Your Jashin" Tsunade's voice trembled in fear, Jashin nodded his head and quirked an eyebrow at the blonde, she was quite pretty in her old age so he gave her a half smirk.

Tsunade blushed and then she cleared her throat "What have you summoned Jashin for" she turned her attention on the pinkette that sat between the two, Tsunade knew Sakura had some kind of explanation for bringing him into the conversation.

Sakura sat straight up in her chair and held her head high "Recently I've had an idea and I'd like to add my own demand into this meeting" she held her breath waiting for someone to yell at her and tell her that she had no right to ask for anything.

"What is you want brat" Ay was the first to ask as he stared at the pinkette and then his onyx eyes shifted to the left so that he could stare at the man suspiciously, was this guy really a god like Sakura thought he was.

Sakura took a moment to gather her thoughts before explaining "It doesn't have to be now, but in the future when my real father" here she motioned to Jashin, before she could continue Tsunade jumped up remaining calm had just disappeared.

"That's impossible there is no way, you two don't even look a like" Tsunades words were a jumbled mess as she tried to accuse Sakura of lying to her "I demand a test to prove it" Tsunade yelled and glared at Sakura.

"Sakura hold out your hand, it is said that children have similarities of their parents" Jashin took hold of Sakura's hand when she had done as he had asked and then gathered chakra into his hand, Sakura's followed both the same color.

"Sometimes children have the same chakra network as their parents and Sakura here has the same as mine" Jashin explained as the purple and silver chakra disappeared, then he turned his piercing red eyes onto Tsunade.

Tsunade fell silent after that because, Jashin spoke the truth, then she motioned for Sakura to continue "When my real father becomes a part of this world again, I want to create a shop and temple for the Leaf Village" Sakura took another breath.

"I've noticed, jashinists are quite good when they want to be, and if more and more people joined the cause and became immortal, like Hidan, then this world would have less threats and problems" Sakura continued again.

Jashin smiled at Sakura pride clear in his red eyes he knew what she was going to ask "The classes will be for ages 13 and up, only if they want to take them" Sakura finished, it would give the jashinists all around the world a chance to redeem themselves.

"That's it" Ay crossed his arms in confusion, he had thought it would be something much more difficult "I don't see why we can't work on this all together" Ay continued when Sakura nodded her head indicating that was all to her demand.

"So thats all then" Mei had thought this meeting would go on forever now all that was left would be to place Isobu in Sakura "I think it will take a few hours to dig up the scrolls that detail the sealing jutsu process" Mei stood so that she could go searching for the old papers.

"That won't be necessary, I have my own sealing formula that I've been working on and I think this is the perfect chance to test it out" Sakura spoke up again, Jashin had vanished into the portal again.

"Let me see that" Tsunade demanded when she spotted the scroll Sakura was holding the girl held it out to her and she quickly scanned the contents with her honey brown eyes "This is absolute genius" Tsunade whistled.

The whole formula was a work of art and there were absolutely no errors, this girl was on par with Minato and since he was dead, he couldn't even meet the girl that was his sons best friend "So you think it will work" Sakura bit her lip when she asked.

"No one but you would be able to undo this jutsu, it's completely full proof, you covered every angle" Tsunade praised, she had learned from the best, but Sakura had taught herself the art of sealing jutsu's.

Sakura felt relieved she had actually made that for Naruto in case something bad happened and the nine tailed fox came out "Sakura go tell the others that you'll be gone for a couple of days we have to prepare for this" Tsunade placed a reassuring hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Thanks Lady Tsunade" Sakura gave the blonde a wave and left the building, going back to the hotel, the minute she entered Yukimaru who had been sitting on the bed, a stack of letters and a scroll next to him, jumped into her arms with a smile on his lips.

"A bunch of letters came from a lot of different places and the scroll came from that place you took me to get weapons made" Yukimaru chattered loudly in her ear, causing Sakura to laugh the boy had obviously missed her.

Sakura squeezed Yukimaru tightly to her who just returned the hug with as much strength as he could "I'll have to check them out later, tell Shikamaru and Naruto that I'll be back in a couple of days" she frowned when Yukimaru huffed angrily.

"Can Shikamaru-onii-san at least take me out to train with my jutsu" he pouted, Yukimaru didn't like being cooped up anymore than Sakura did "And can I have a couple more books to read" Yukimaru asked again.

Sakura fake contemplated for a minute before making up her mind "Sure let me write out a note and leave an academy level water jutsu scroll for you" Sakura sat down at the desk after picking up the letters and scroll that sat on the bed.

When she was done Sakura checked the scroll over for Touga's identifying mark, once she found it the scroll was quickly opened, inside were the personal storage scrolls, the gourd and the pouches Sakura had wanted made then they were quickly resealed.

"Now I have to get going" Sakura gave Yukimaru another hug set down a few books for him on the bedside table and exited the room, Zabuza was waiting for her, so together the two walked to the place where the sealing process would happen, in silence.

When Sakura entered the huge room, she was immediately tugged off in a different direction to bathe, her entire body was washed and scrubbed until it was pink and clean, then her hair was shampooed and conditioned.

Once she exited the baths, her hair was done up to keep it up and out of the way, then Sakura was given some clothes to change into, they were plain but they would reveal her stomach so that the formula could be placed there.

Tsunade met Sakura as she was being led through the door "You'll be knocked out during this process so you won't feel much pain" she explained as they walked into the room where the process would begin.

Sakura was helped up onto the table where Tsunade injected her with the tranquilizer drug, several minutes passed by until she was sure Sakura wouldn't be coming awake in the middle of the sealing jutsu.

And then it began, Tsunade as the fuinjutsu master had the job of writing out the formula on Sakura's stomach, it was a painstakingly slow and meticulous process, every so often one of the attendants wiped the sweat from her forehead as she concentrated.

The other Kage focused on keeping the turtle from escaping the jar until it was time to merge him with Sakura, everyone had to keep their heads clear and focused on the task at hand, none of them wanted this to go wrong.

Several hours later, Tsunade took a step back and ran a critical look over the formula before nodding in relief, she hadn't messed up which would ensure the seal would never come undone, not that it would with Sakura in command of the 3 tailed turtle.

Next she concentrated her chakra and motioned for the others to bring the jar over, it was time to begin the merging process, Tsunade took a deep breath and then started merging Isobu's chakra into Sakura weaving it, into her chakra network until it was so thoroughly merged.

The entire process had taken most of the day, but Sakura would wake up sore so it would take an additional day so that she could rest and get used to being a host to a tailed beast, Tsunade didn't think it would take her long to do so though.

"I'll go check on the others, just make sure she is put in a bed so that she can be comfortable" Tsunade gave the others a wave and headed to the hotel that Mei had told her the others were staying in.

"Lady Tsunade" Shikamaru jumped up, Sakura hadn't told Yukimaru anything except for taking the boy out and practicing jutsu's, it irked him a little that she hadn't seen him before she rushed off to do whatever, but that was just Sakura's way.

"Before you ask, Sakura is fine, I'm sure she'll tell you in due time, just know that she is resting" Tsunade held up her hand to quell Shikamaru's need to get answers from her on Sakura, it really was quite sweet but she didn't have time to fool around.

"Sakura will be back soon though right" Shikamaru couldn't stop himself from asking, he was terrified about losing one of the people he truly loved, he would do anything for Sakura even if it meant leaving the village with her.

Tsunade contemplated telling him and she would have to if Yukimaru and Naruto along with all the animals entered the room so Tsunade just nodded gave Naruto a smile and Yukimaru a pat on the head and went to rent a hotel room herself as it was late.

Deep inside Sakura's consciousness, she was meeting Isobu for the first time "Who are you" the turtle eyed her warily with his good eye, it had been so long since his last container, that he couldn't remember much.

"My name is Sakura Aburame, my real last name is Kamizuru" Sakura sat down on the rock next to Isobu and stared at the impressive landscape "What's your name" she asked a moment later when the turtle remained quiet.

"Isobu, why are you here Sakura Kamizuru" Isobu chose to call her by her true name instead of the adopted last name, he wanted to know how she had gotten here and why, her answer would help him choose if Sakura was of the good or of the bad.

"I'm not sure where I am, the last thing I knew was Lady Tsunade had knocked me out with a tranquilizer drug, for a long while everything was black and then I woke up here" Sakura announced sheepishly to the giant turtle.

"This is my landscape deep in your psyche, why do you feel so calming to me" Isobu answered Sakura's question with a question of his own "It's like any thoughts I had about you being a bad person are gone" Isobu titled his head to the side.

Sakura smiled at least he wasn't outright rejecting her as his host container "I'm not really sure, but I'm not a bad human" Sakura was confused herself, everytime she came into contact with one of the tailed beasts, they immediately reacted to her in a positive way.

"I'll trust you until you do otherwise" Isobu stood tall and then he slid into the water and disappeared from Sakura's sight, she was going back anyway so he felt no need to stay and speak with her much longer.

The next morning Tsunade rose early and before anyone could follow her she transported to the room Sakura should've been resting in, Sakura was in there alright but she was wide awake Sakura looked quite ready to leave and go home.

"How do you feel Sakura" Tsunade was worried about the 17 year old, not that she would admit it out loud, but she felt some maternal instinct towards the pinkette after the short time she had spent with Sakura, she knew the girl was good even though she could be a brat sometimes.

"I feel fine I had some residual soreness but that was swiftly taken care of by healing the muscles" Sakura stretched from her spot on the bed "Though I'm ready to see Yukimaru and Shikamaru again" she yawned, Sakura felt refreshed.

Tsunade laughed and pulled the pinkette into a bone crushing hug "I'm sure those two are ready to see you again as well" she explained as she handed Sakura a change of clothes, when she dressed the two left the hospital.

In the 5 days they had been in the village it had completely turned around, Sakura would admit out loud that it didn't need her or Naruto anymore, and so long as they continued practicing the new rules, it would continue to run much smoother.

The second they entered Sakura's hotel room, Shikamaru who had been dozing lightly on the bed, hopped up and crossed the room upon seeing Sakura, drew her into his arms and pressed a passionate kiss to Sakura's lips.

This caused Sakura to release a sigh of content and return the kiss "I love you" she murmured as he pulled away "How about when we get home, we go on another date" Sakura leaned against Shikamaru his cheeks were flushed in happiness.

"Agreed and Sakura, I love you to" Shikamaru returned the sentiment of love after agreeing with her about going on another date, Yukimaru would be in classes, while they had been talking Tsunade had left the room to gather her things and her escorts.

"Want to tell me what you've been doing that was so important you couldn't tell me" Shikamaru was a little put out about Sakura hiding something from him, he really wanted to know what was going on with his girlfriend.

"Shikamaru, the reason Tsunade and the other Kage's came here was because, Lady Tsunade and a team along with Shizune captured the 3 tailed turtle Isobu and wanted me to become his container" Sakura admitted, she had promised to never again hide something from Shikamaru.

"So your like Naruto now" Shikamaru understood why she had left Naruto and Yukimaru here in the hotel and him as well, if they had been there it would've been that much more difficult to concentrate on sealing the beast within Sakura.

"Yes Shikamaru, I'm like Naruto, now where is he and Yukimaru" Sakura had tried searching for the two boys chakra and didn't feel it in the hotel, it admittedly worried her so she turned to Shikamaru in hopes that he knew where they were.

"Oh Naruto decided to help Yukimaru today on his training, Midori went with them, I've been with the little ones all morning" Shikamaru gestured to the bed that had, Kanpecki, Ankaishoku and Sukikyo curled up on it.

"Do you think you could go get them, while I pack up" Sakura pecked Shikamaru on the lips before he left, the minute he was gone Sakura rolled up her sleeves and got to work on cleaning up everything, after giving it a once over she nodded in satisfaction.

"Onee-sama" Yukimaru jumped on her back and the two went crashing onto the bed "I learned how to do water clones and how to form the water into senbon needles" he chattered on and Sakura flipped over until she had Yukimaru down to start tickling him.

"I'm proud of you my cheeky little monkey" Sakura finally released the giggling boy "Come to think of it when's your birthday it should be coming up soon" she asked peering at the little boy who had grown up so much in the past few months.

"In a few weeks" Yukimaru was excited it meant that he would be getting his first birthday party ever, though Yukimaru wasn't certain if anyone but Sakura would come, he was still pretty happy about it.

"Well then I'll just have to go shopping for a few gifts for you" Sakura gently pinched his cheeks as Tsunade, Shikaku and Inoichi entered the room, Tsunade was holding a scroll that a messenger had just given her.

"We have to go now, a message just came from the Leaf Village that something big has happened" Tsunade barked and everyone scrambled from the hotel "Sakura you have a mode of transportation right" she didn't want to waste time walking they had to get back fast.

"That's right Lady Tsunade" Sakura quickly formed the hand signs and bit her lip before swiping the blood down her arm on her summoning seal "Plume Moth Summoning Jutsu" she slammed her hand down on the ground.

"Maru-sama we need a lift back to the Leaf Village" Sakura called up to the moth she had only summoned once before "And it needs to be a fast ride" she hollered again as the moth leaned down to allow everyone to climb on.

"Of course Sakura-sama, anything for you and your friends" Maru had hoped it was another tracking mission but he was wrong "Everyone hang on tight" he called as he started flapping his massive wings, Sakura wanted fast so they would get fast as requested.

Everyone except for Sakura who had Yukimaru clinging to her grasped hold of the white fuzz on Maru's body as the massive moth rose in the air and took off at the fastest speed any of them, except for Sakura had ever seen.

20 minutes later Maru was landing just a few feet away from the village gates, once everyone had clambered down his massive body, Maru left in a puff of smoke "No time to lose everyone to my office" Tsunade led the way through the village to the Hokage Tower.

When they entered Tsunade stopped cold, there sitting in her chair behind the desk was her grandfather, not only that but her great uncle, her sensei and the fourth Hokage were all littered about the room completely relaxed in the office they once used as their own.

Sakura who had been behind Tsunade peeked around the blonde woman "Oh my god" her emerald green eyes were wide as the words slipped from her mouth, her words started the yelling and suspicion overall it was just chaos.

Finally everyone fell silent as Hiruzen stepped forward "An immortal god by the name of Jashin gave us life, he said that the village was in grave danger, we are not the only ones he brought back just one other" Hiruzen had been saddened when he had learned of this.

Feeling a familiar chakra, Sakura whipped around "Sasuke" the boy looked older probably the work of her father "You said Jashin" Sakura turned on her heel to make sure she had heard right, Hiruzen nodded his head.

'Thanks Father' Sakura sent the thought through her mental connection with Jashin, he didn't send anything back but she knew he had gotten it "Welcome back Sasuke" Sakura grimaced how would everyone else react.

"Hello Sakura, so I've heard from Shizune-san that I've been replaced already" Sasuke was a little angry, how long had it taken everyone to move on and get a replacement for him on his team, had Sakura ever really cared about him.

Sakura's eye twitched in irritation, not even five minutes and he was acting like a petulant child and to the amusement of Tsunade whacked the Uchiha right over his head "HOW DARE YOU ACT LIKE THAT" Sakura seethed.

"Do you know how long it took me to get over your death, exactly I still haven't, Sasuke I still get nightmares stupid bastard" Sakura shook with her rage sending the others scrambling for a corner to get away, everyone knew what was coming.

"And for your information, Sai was just put on the team not even 4 months ago, he could never replace you" Sakura whacked him again sending the now 17 year old crashing to the ground with a groan.

Before she could continue on her rant, wood had wrapped around her to prevent her from moving "I think that's enough out of you girly" Hashirama stared hard at the pink haired girl, he was struggling to keep her bound.

His eyes widened when Sakura easily broke through the wood "I'm sorry Lord First" Sakura bowed her head apologetically "Sorry for taking it to far Sasuke" she healed his head that had formed a couple of bumps and then helped the teen to his feet.

"It's ok Sakura, I know now that I was wrong" Sasuke winced, Sakura had really gotten much stronger and it was extremely scary to think she could send him to his knees in just a few whacks over his head.

And then before anyone could react again Tobirama strode forward "Your one of those damned Uchiha's" he hissed, Tobirama grew irritated when the pink haired girl, Sakura the boy had called her, stood in his way.

"Hold on there Lord Second" Sakura had lost Sasuke once and wouldn't let anyone touch him again "He may be an Uchiha, but he's still my teammate and I won't let anyone lay a hand on him" her purple and silver chakra was leaking out in her anger.

"Sakura calm down" Tsunade winced as Sakura's chakra lashed out pushing Tobirama away but never hurting the red eyed man "It's ok Tobirama isn't going to hurt Sasuke, right Tobirama" Tsunade glanced at her great uncle in anxiousness, he quickly shook his head.

'Calm down Sakura' Isobu appeared in her mind, he now knew why they had chosen this girl as his container the chakra rolling off of her was inhuman and none of it was his 'The boy will be fine' he soothed, Isobu didn't like the anger Sakura was exhibiting.

It was a slow process as Sakura reigned in her chakra and took several calming breaths 'Thanks Isobu' Sakura was grateful for the turtles soothing words, Isobu didn't say anything instead he disappeared leaving the rest up to her now that she was calm once again.

Tsunade cautiously took a step forward and then wrapped the pinkette in her arms "It's ok Sakura, Sasuke is here and no one will touch him again" Tsunade soothed, ptsd wasn't something you got rid of, it was always there in the back of your mind no matter what.

"That girl is crazy" Tobirama jumped to his feet but took a large step backwards as Tsunade pinned her glaring honey brown eyes on him "Tsunade you can't actually like the girl she is severely disobedient" he tried to make his great niece see reason.

"Sakura is not crazy, I'm sure all of you know what post traumatic stress disorder is, and she is not disobedient in fact Sakura is one of my best Jonin, she out ranks the other jonin" Tsunade was viciously protective over the pinkette it seemed.

It was then that a tiny voice spoke up "Onee-sama are you ok and whats post traumatic stress disorder" Yukimaru had never heard the long word before but by Tsunade's reaction it couldn't be any good, so it worried him that Sakura was unhappy about something.

Sakura cringed at the realisation that Yukimaru had been listening in on the conversation and had seen everything, so she briefly returned Tsunade's hug before taking the little boy into her arms and then sat on the couch.

"I'm ok Yukimaru, and post traumatic stress disorder, ptsd for short, is where someone has a horrific event in their life and it troubles them for a long, long time" Sakura reassured him that she was ok before explaining to him what ptsd was.

Yukimaru pondered for a moment and then his eyes lit up in understanding "Does that mean I have ptsd to" he questioned and Sakura's eyes watered but she blinked the tears back so that she could answer his question.

"Yes Yukimaru, you have ptsd as well because of your exposure to that snake Orochimaru" Sakura hugged Yukimaru tightly before releasing him, that was one thing she could never give up on, and that was taking Orochimaru down no matter what happened.

Sasuke was sure that the conversation was over between Sakura and the others and saw fit to talk "And for everyones information, I am no longer an Uchiha, I may have the Uchiha blood, but I no longer have the sharigan" he shrugged it was one less burden.

"I asked that Jashin fellow to make sure I could never again be hunted down for my sharigan, after Danzou and so he removed that ability from me, I'm just a normal teenager, with normal abilities now" Sasuke chuckled when Sakura rolled her eyes.

The name Danzou however sparked a question within Tobirama "Where exactly his Danzou, he should be here and I don't feel his chakra, is he gone from the village on business" Tobirama spoke up after Sasuke took a seat next to Sakura.

"He's dead" Tsunade stated flatly "He was a traitor of the village, when Sasuke was buried, he dug up the grave to steal his sharigan" Tsunade explained when Tobirama released a yell of outrage at the admission.

Tobirama fell silent after that so Tsunade took matters into her own hands once again "I'm sure everyone is tired so you can all go home and Sakura I need to talk with you" she ordered gently before taking her seat behind the desk.

After everyone but the previous Kage's left the office Sakura took a chair in front of the desk "What is it that you need to talk to me about" Sakura was curious, after all the talking they had done already, she had been sure Tsunade would start complaining and drink her sake.

"When are you and Shikamaru going to get married" Tsunade asked sheepishly, she had seen how the two teens stared at each other, and was sure that a marriage between the two clans would be in the near future.

Sakura fell off her chair dying of laughter, she missed the glare Tobirama sent her, Tsunade let her get the laughter out, after a few minutes Sakura gracefully sat back down in the chair before taking on a serious expression.

"It's really up to Shikamaru whenever he decides to propose, though it shouldn't be much longer now" Sakura knew about the time limit, which left them one year before they had to get formally engaged and then they could get married whenever before they turned 21.

Tsunade gave Sakura a fond smile before dismissing her "Go home get some rest, you look tired" Tsunade waved her off, she was right though the girl looked exhausted and was sure she was feeling some after effects from the sealing jutsu.


	13. To Prove Ones Own Self

When Sakura got home, Shikamaru greeted her in the hall "Come on Yukimaru's cooking dinner for us, we went shopping for some easy ingredients" he gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek before taking her hand in his own and leading her into the kitchen.

Yukimaru pulled out Sakura's chair for her and Shikamaru pushed her in "Don't worry about doing anything else tonight Onee-sama" Yukimaru smiled sweetly up at his favorite person in the whole world.

"Yukimaru's right, let us take care of your chores tonight" Shikamaru gave her a cheeky smile once he had sat down next to her and pulled her feet into his lap, he removed her dark green boots and carefully massaged her feet.

Sakura sighed in bliss "Ok" she murmured tiredly, to be honest all she really wanted to do was crawl into bed and fall asleep but since Shikamaru and Yukimaru had gone through the trouble of going shopping for her, she could at least eat the meal Yukimaru was making them.

Soon enough the mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and grilled fish were placed in front of her "Eat up Onee-sama and then go take a bath" Yukimaru made a plate for Shikamaru and then took his place at the only remaining seat at the table.

After the food was eaten, Shikamaru helped Sakura into her bedroom "Go on, I'll bring you a change of clothes" he nudged her into the bathroom, when Shikamaru heard the faucet running, he turned and went back into the kitchen.

Before he could talk, Yukimaru spoke up from where he stood on his stool washing dishes "You stay with Onee-sama, I can handle the dishes and animals" Yukimaru flashed him a smile over his shoulder before turning back to his task.

Shikamaru chuckled but did as Yukimaru had asked him, he didn't see any harm in following Yukimaru's order because he had already planned on staying with Sakura anyway "Just be careful" he warned and then went back into the bedroom.

He dug through Sakura's handmade dresser, Shikamaru knew that she had made friends with a certain brunette named Yamato, he wasn't jealous because Sakura gave him her sole attention and didn't even consider anyone else as her romantic partner.

A few minutes later he emerged from the top drawer with a set of Sakura's pajamas in his hand, Shikamaru's face was beat red, but he would just have to get used to seeing girly things in a dresser since he planned on proposing soon and moving in.

Shikamaru quickly tiptoed into the bathroom and set out a couple of towels for Sakura to use and then placed the pjs he had grabbed, a few meters away so that they wouldn't get wet when Sakura got out.

Next he went back into the bedroom and tidied up a bit and then made the bed, at this point Yukimaru in his own pajamas entered the room carrying Sukikyo "Tell Onee-sama not to worry about Sukikyo" Yukimaru gave Shikamaru a side hug then climbed the stairs to his own room.

Just then Sakura came out rubbing her hair dry with the green towel "Thanks Shika, I needed that little bit of pampering" she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his "Tomorrow we can go on that date" Sakura whispered and laid down in the bed when Shikamaru motioned to it.

"Anytime and of course" Shikamaru's voice was deeper than usual as he tucked her in "I have some things to do and will be back soon" he pressed a kiss to her lips as her eyes fluttered closed a moment later her breathing evened out.

Shikamaru grabbed his spare key and left the house, locking the door behind him as he ran down the streets back to the Nara compound to tell his parents that he was staying with Sakura for the night and most of the next day as well.

When he entered the compound Shikamaru had to duck down as a frying pan, the one his girlfriend had gifted to his mother, came flying at him with alarming speed before getting imbedded in the wall above his head.

The lights switched on and Yoshino stomped into the room Akako was wrapped around her shoulder "How dare you sneak into my house this late" Yoshino hadn't noticed it was him yet "Shikamaru" or apparently she had, as she placed her hands angrily on her hips.

"Sorry mom, Sakura had a rough day so I gave her a bit of pampering, I was coming home to tell you that I'm going to stay there tonight and spend most of the day with her tomorrow" Shikamaru hurriedly explained.

Yoshino paused, the only time Shikamaru got motivated to do anything was if it involved Sakura "Well tell her to get well and you better bring her and that adorable little Yukimaru by sometime tomorrow" Yoshino huffed.

Then she stomped over to where her son stood and yanked the frying out of the wall, she would get Shikaku to fix it later as she bid Shikamaru goodnight and then he was out of the front door and running back down the streets to Sakura's house.

Quietly sneaking back into the house and passed a sleeping Midori was no easy task as Shikamaru tiptoed around the huge wolf to get into Sakura's room, where he found Sakura still sleeping and Yukimaru curled up next to her as opposed to being in his room.

Shikamaru gave the two a fond smile and then slid under the covers, it was up to him to take care of Sukikyo tonight as soft breathing emitted from the sleeping occupants of the bed, once he was settled Shikamaru dozed off for a bit.

Four hours later he woke up and quickly fed Sukikyo before going back to sleep, Sakura would probably take over in the morning and so he got more comfortable on his side, Yukimaru's giggles woke him up the next morning.

"Ok cheeky little monkey time to get up" Sakura was talking to the boy and he was laughing "And you to Shikamaru" she had noticed her boyfriend was faking sleep, found out Shikamaru sat up yawning "Good morning Shika" Sakura pecked him on the lips when Yukimaru wasn't looking.

"Mom wants me to bring you and Yukimaru by later after our date and he gets let out" Shikamaru told Sakura so that he wouldn't forget to do so later, Shikamaru couldn't help it that he mainly focused all of his attention on Sakura.

"We can do that, though I get to choose our date today" Sakura smiled mischievously, she knew exactly what she wanted to do today, and usually Shikamaru didn't deny her, this time was no different as he nodded his head and laid back down but didn't try to go back to sleep.

Once Sukikyo was fed and breakfast and lunch for Yukimaru had been made, the little boy gave Sakura and Shikamaru a hug before leaving the house to walk to the academy by himself, he claimed since he was going to be eight soon he was old enough to walk himself.

Sakura couldn't deny him, Yukimaru was extremely well behaved and responsible "We are going shopping, then we can have lunch at a restaurant of my choosing" she turned to Shikamaru to give him the plan for the day.

Shikamaru nodded "Let me guess, we are going shopping for Yukimaru" Sakura nodded this time as she grabbed her wallet "What are you planning on getting him" he was curious, she had Touga forging him weapons, so what else was there left to do.

"Custom made outfit" Sakura simply said as she turned to lock up her house and then went down the street passed the flower shop and around a corner to her favorite clothing shop in the Leaf Village.

Shikamaru fell silent at that as they entered the clothing store and headed straight to the ninja wear section to start searching for the perfect outfit for Yukimaru, a second after they began Shikamaru held up a short sleeved blue shirt.

Sakura shook her head "Look for a long sleeved magenta shirt with pale green markings on it, and then for a short sleeved pale green shirt with purple markings on it" she explained, Sakura knew how much Yukimaru loved the two colors.

"Gotcha" Shikamaru went back to searching while Sakura looked through pants and knee length shorts, until she came across the specific colors she wanted, looking them over she nodded and placed them neatly in the basket on her arm.

A moment later Shikamaru emerged with the requested shirts and they to were placed in the basket as they moved to a different part of the store "Sakura, I know we arent engaged yet but I was wondering if you'd be opposed to me moving in" Shikamaru spoke up suddenly.

"That's entirely up to your parents, but if you must know I don't care if you move in now" Sakura's cheeks turned red as she admitted one of her desires out loud, she had many but unless Shikamaru broached the subject first they would be safely tucked away in her mind.

Shikamaru remained silent looking through a rack of cloaks for a magenta and pale green one "We'll talk to my parents tonight" he scanned the cloaks again before finally seeing what he searched for, he grabbed the cloak and held it up to Sakura who nodded her head.

It was a thick winter cloak, magenta colored with pale green markings "Perfect, good job Shikamaru" Sakura rewarded him with a kiss as they again moved to a different part of the store to look through another rack of this time of trench coats.

Sakura found the perfect one this time, it was a light material and would almost drag the ground if Yukimaru put it on, it was pale green with magenta markings "So why magenta and pale green" Shikamaru asked curiously as she folded it and placed the trenchcoat in the basket.

"Those are Yukimaru's favorite colors" Sakura explained searching through shoes this time, Shikamaru didn't answer and she didn't look up until a shadow blocked her light, Sakura turned around to ask the person to move and froze in slight fear.

"Lord Second, Lord First" Sakura bowed her head and backed up into Shikamaru who hadn't liked the expression that had crossed her face briefly upon noticing who stood behind her, but he wouldn't speak out instead he would listen and wait.

"The Kamizuru girl" Tobirama rolled his eyes "What happened to the Uchiha boy, cheating on him already" Tobirama asked cruelly, ignoring the look Hashirama sent him, as he raised an eyebrow at Sakura and waited to see what she would say.

"I've never been with anyone but Shikamaru in my entire life" Sakura snapped back, "And for your information Sasuke was a precious comrade that got killed, I swore to get revenge on the person who did it" she hissed.

"Talk about shattering someones image of you" Sakura continued as she twined her fingers with Shikamaru set down the basket and dragged him from the clothing store, they would go shopping at another time.

Hashirama eyed his younger brother in exasperation "You idiot, we promised Tsunade that we would get along with the girl and now look at what you've done" Hashirama gestured to the retreating pinkette.

Tobirama cringed, Tsunade was going to have his head for this "Go get her brother" Tobirama was loathe to admit it but he needed to apologize and fast before anymore misunderstandings could happen between the girl and him.

Shikamaru pulled Sakura to a stop upon noticing Hashirama approaching them "Sakura-san, Tobirama wants to apologize to you" it had taken the brunette a few minutes to catch up with the two fast paced teens.

Sakura wanted to tell the first Hokage that his brother could go drown on his water but she kept it to herself as he led them back into the store and over to where Tobirama was waiting rather patiently for her to approach.

"I'm terribly sorry for upsetting you" Tobirama nodded his head in apology "I'm an angry person, and it will take me awhile to get use to being living again" he explained, it was a poor excuse but Sakura just took his apology as it was.

"That's fine" Sakura held up her hand to stop even more excuses before moving to the basket and picking it up again so that she could start looking through the shoes for the perfect pair, in the exact same color as the clothes for Yukimaru.

Hashirama was confused, the pinkette couldn't be as mature as that it was preposterous, she should be enjoying her life not taking care of a little boy and already in a serious relationship with someone.

"Why aren't you out enjoying your life, instead of taking care of a kid, give him to someone else, and why are you already in a relationship" he decided to ask instead of wondering over it, however he wasn't prepared for the glare Sakura sent at him.

A moment later she took a deep breath "I am enjoying my life every day I do and learn new things, as for Yukimaru, I can't just simply give him to someone else, I love him" Sakura explained calmly.

"And for your last question Lord First, I know that I will never love anyone else as much as I love Shikamaru in a romantic way at least, so instead of wasting my time looking for someone, I'm already with him" Sakura finished and turned back around to finish looking through the shoes.

Hashirama couldn't believe his ears, this 17 year old girl thought that she was in love with someone, he bet that it was just a fling and couldn't wait to see them break up in the future, this girl was crazy and he didn't really like her but for Tsunades sake he would tolerate her.

"Those are cute" Shikamaru spoke up when Sakura picked up a pair of pale green and magenta sandals "And practical" he snickered when she gave him an exasperated grin "What about these" Shikamaru held up a pair of boots in pale green and magenta.

Sakura ran a critical eye over the pair before nodding "Good, now lets get some socks and unmentionables for him and then head to the counter" she pulled Shikamaru with her over to the socks and unmentionables and quickly sorted through an entire shelf.

They both came out with the required items, unaware that they were being followed by two of the former Hokage "Did you see that Anija, she tells him what to do and he does it without protest" Tobirama didn't like this one bit it's like the boy had no control of his own.

"Hello Sakura-chan" Hinata had gotten a part time job at the clothing store, when she noticed the basket she quickly asked "What would you like done today" Hinata rung up the clothes and waited for the explanations.

Sakura gave Hinata a smile before starting "On everything that's pale green with magenta, I want Yukimaru's full name Yukimaru Kamizuru stitched into the cloth in magenta" Sakura explained and waited for Hinata to write down the order.

"On everything that's magenta and pale green, I want his name in pale green and then on everything I want a flower in water blue with a yellow and black bee" Sakura finished and then handed over the total to Hinata.

Hinata grabbed up the basket "Come back in a few hours Sakura-chan, I'll be finished then" she called over her shoulder as someone took her place so that she could work on Sakura's order, Hinata really needed to talk to the pinkette soon about her crush on Naruto.

The two previous Hokage continued following Sakura and Shikamaru as they walked hand in hand down the street "Will you choose the restaurant" Sakura felt she owed it to her boyfriend for going shopping with her to let him choose where they ate.

"How about Ichiraku" Shikamaru suggested teasingly, when she rolled her eyes and gently smacked his arm he allowed a smile to show "The tea and dango shop" he suggested again, this time Sakura nodded excitedly.

When they entered the tea shop, Sakura spotted all of her team at one of the tables, that included the now revived Sasuke who was sulking as Anko blabbed on endlessly about something Sakura didn't want to know about.

"Come on Sakura, it's still a date even if none of the others know about it" Shikamaru was the one who pulled Sakura along this time over to the table Anko, Naruto, Sasuke and Sai sat at, when the two sat down Anko paused mid sentence.

"Yo waitress 6 more orders of dango and to more green teas" Anko called out and then turned to Sasuke once again to continue her explanation of his knew training schedule, since he was way behind his teammates.

When she was finished the new orders had been set down so she turned her attention onto Sakura "Hey pinky after we are all done eating would you consider sparring with punk number 1" Anko jerked her thumb at Sasuke who slumped further in his seat on the bench.

"Sure sensei" Sakura knew what Anko was doing, the purple haired woman wanted to see how much Sasuke needed to be taught so that he could begin on a new training schedule "I would love to get a little aggression out" she snickered when Sasuke paled.

"That's more like it pinky" Anko hid her laughter by taking a sip of her green tea "And don't you dare hold back" she warned, to be honest Anko didn't think Sakura had to do much to beat Sasuke, she was way out of his league now.

Come to think of it both Sakura and Naruto were way out of her league as well, the two had become so strong that they were well known in other countries and villages, heck Sakura got respect from all 5 kages.

"Don't worry sensei, I won't hold back" Sakura assured Anko causing Sasuke to slouch his shoulders, his training hadn't even begun and he knew that he would already lose against his pink haired teammate.

Though Sasuke supposed he mostly deserved it for jumping in front of her that time and getting himself killed, and then Sasuke wondered what had happened to Dosu Kinuta, he would just have to ask her at another time when she was free to chat.

Once everyone had eaten and drank their fill, Anko stood up and led her team plus Shikamaru and unknowingly two others towards the usual training ground where she ordered Sakura and Sasuke to face each other and begin the spar "Start" Anko jumped back to watch the fight.

Sasuke eyed Sakura warily when she stood still, he wondered what she would do and hoped he didn't end up dying again "What's the matter Sasuke" Sakura gave him a small smile before throwing a few dark green kunai at him.

She wanted to practice with her puppets today, one of them was already unsealed and waiting just behind Sasuke the kunai were just a distraction as she concentrated on keeping her chakra strings invisible as she moved the puppet into position.

Sasuke ducked down low when Sakura swung her fist at him, he hadn't even seen her move, he rolled to the side to avoid her kick and then jumped back 'Damn it she's taking it easy on me' Sasuke sulked was he that bad at sparring that Sakura felt the need to hold back.

He jumped forward as a kunai embedded itself in his back, his eyes flew around looking for Sakura, she was still in front of him so who had thrown the kunai "This isn't funny Sakura, stop holding back on me" Sasuke winced as he pulled the kunai out and threw it at her.

In response to Sasuke's throw Sakura tossed one of her shuriken to knock it out of the air "I'm not holding back on you, in fact I'm using every little bit of my strength" she cocked her head to the side and decided to step up her attack a bit.

The next thing Sasuke knew he was flying through the air, Tobirama and Hashirama who had been watching almost jumped in to stop the fight, if Sasuke hadn't gotten back on his feet, they would have to.

"Good one Sakura" Sasuke wiped his mouth and stared down at his blood, his lip had split upon impact with the tree, he had gone face first into it "But now it's my turn" he leaped forward and set Sakura on the defensive or so he thought.

It wasn't until he couldn't move anymore that his hope was squashed about Sakura having grown weaker in his absence "Sorry Sasuke, but I've trained alot over the past four years" Sakura giggled innocently.

"While we spar can you tell me what you've learned" Sasuke was curious, she had called him one of her precious comrades and wanted to know how much she would tell him, Sakura pondered Sasuke strange request for a moment before nodding.

"Sure" she smiled and then knocked him back with a punch, she had held back a little but she was sure it had broken if the way he was holding his shoulder was any clue "Lesson number one was weapons training" Sakura called out to him.

Sasuke leaned back to avoid the next punch she send at his head, he had seen Sakura use that against Ino during the chunin exams and didn't want to get knocked unconscious "What else" Sasuke didn't know Sakura knew how to use any other type of weapons.

"Puppetry" her chakra strings became visible for a brief moment as a tiny puppet flew into his face and released smoke blocking his vision "Genjutsu training as well, I'm an honorary shinobi of the Hidden Sand Village" Sakura flew through the smoke and kicked Sasuke in the stomach.

"How many different weapons do you know how to use" Sasuke enquired concentrating on staying on his feet and waiting for the smoke to dissipate so that he could see again, he jumped to the right to avoid the senbon Sakura had thrown at him.

"Scythes, tantou swords, and a whip" Sakura appeared, this time Sasuke grabbed her wrist and threw Sakura over his shoulder, where she flipped in mid air to land gracefully on her feet "The whip was forged out of my hair" Sakura explained.

"That's impressive Sakura" Sasuke whistled and charged forward to send a punch of his own at Sakura only to once again be swept of his feet and go flying through the air, this dispelled the smoke though so Sasuke could see again.

Anko winced as the tree Sasuke was thrown against cracked, apparently Sakura hadn't been joking about getting her aggression out, but what really surprised her was Sasuke who stood up again maybe he didn't need much training afterall.

"Not as impressive as the next bit" Sakura smirked and flew through a set of hand signs "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu" she threw shuriken into the mix and sent the flaming weapons flying through the air to Sasuke who dodged just in time.

Sasuke whipped around to stare at Sakura, his eyes were wide, he hadn't known she could use elemental jutsu "When did you learn that" he panted, Sasuke was slowing down and Sakura could see that so she decided to drag the spar out a little longer.

"Cloud Village, at first the one who trained me tried to tell me that I wasn't able to use jutsu's, but it turns out that I had more than two elements" Sakura shrugged and lazily flung a few shuriken at Sasuke who blocked them with his kunai.

A few scratched him but they were superficial and wouldn't hinder him in the fight "What elements do you have" Sasuke blew a fireball at her only to cringe as a waterwall rose up around her in defense.

"Fire, Water, Earth and Lightning, wind is my weakness but I have something else to bad she's not here otherwise you'd look a lot worse" Sakura snickered and decided to end the fight there wasn't much more she could tell him without getting sent to jail to get a mental evaluation.

Jumping forward before Sasuke could move Sakura knocked him to the ground and pressed a kunai against his throat "I give" Sasuke struggled to get out and Anko finally took pity on him and told Sakura to heal him.

Once he was healed Sasuke and Sakura shook hands "I'm surprised you lasted half as long as you did, usually Sai doesn't last that long and Naruto gives up before I can do to much damage" Sakura patted Sasuke on the back before moving over to Shikamaru.

Sasuke immediately averted his eyes as the lazy Nara pulled his teammate into a kiss, he was distracted by Anko who strode forward to stand next to him "Tomorrow report here, stamina training" she ordered before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

When he looked back up Sakura had pulled away and was talking to Shikamaru about something, then the two gave him and the other males a wave and started walking away, it was time to pick up Yukimaru's birthday presents.

The minute Sakura and Shikamaru had gone and Naruto and Sai moved over to a different part of the field, Hashirama and Tobirama descended from their spot in a tree far away from the spar they had a few questions to ask Sasuke.

"Sasuke how long have you known Sakura" Hashirama asked first and allowed the teen a few minutes to dig through his memories, a minute later he opened his mouth to tell them, extremely ashamed of how he had first acted.

"Since we were 7, the first time I met Sakura was when she started hating me, I called her meiwaku and she fled from Ino Yamanaka and I" Sasuke leaned against a tree, how naive he had been back then.

"Was she a crazy lunatic back then" Tobirama was the next to ask, he severely disapproved her actions in the spar, she could have gone a little easier on the teen instead of heartlessly attacking him like she had.

"She's not crazy or a lunatic, just a girl trying to prove to others that's she's strong" Sasuke smiled, he remembered when Sakura had started fighting back against Ino and him, her antagonizers during their academy days.

"Do you remember how you died" Hashirama pulled Sasuke's attention back onto himself by asking the next question, he knew how the others had died but Jashin had kept the information on Sasuke's death from them.

"I do, it was during the last chunin exams, Sakura was challenged by a sound genin named Dosu Kinuta, but I took the fight from her and then I jumped in front of a sword for her" Sasuke remembered everything even his last request.

"She tried to heal me but the wound was to extensive, I was drowning on my own blood, so I asked her one last request, a few weeks later we spoke in Jashin's garden" Saskue concluded his little explanation.

Tobirama wasn't satisfied with his explanation however "How did she react to you dying" he frowned though when Sasuke rubbed a hand down his face in exhaustion, and wondered what was the cause.

Sasuke really didn't want to answer this question, the image burned into his brain, was enough to give him nightmares for a long time "She cried, the first time I saw her cry was over me and it's not something I ever want to repeat" Sasuke sighed.

It was clear to both older men that the conversation was over with as Sasuke turned and walked towards the other two males on his team, having nothing else to do Tobirama and Hashirama decided to head back to their house Hashirama had built in the middle of town.

With Sakura and Shikamaru, they had just gotten back from collecting the clothes Sakura had bought and had just finished wrapping them in boxes and hidden them in the closet where Yukimaru wouldn't find them when the front door flew open and said boy walked in.

As opposed to the last time he had come back home, this time he wasn't crying instead he looked quite happy "Guess what Onee-sama" Yukimaru had several things to tell Sakura but he would let her guess first.

"I don't know cheeky little monkey" Sakura had a good idea what was going on as she spied the report card Yukimaru was trying to hide behind his back "Why don't you tell me" she smiled as Yukimaru pulled the report card out.

"I got perfect scores on everything and I found out Yume-chan didn't have to move after all apparently, Yume-chans, otou-san found a better job here in the Leaf Village" Yukimaru squealed out happily, perfect scores and he still got to keep one of his best friends.

"When Onee-sama adopts me Shikamaru-onii-san can I call you otou-san like I'm gonna call onee-sama, kaa-chan" Yukimaru turned unbelievably shy as he asked Shikamaru something he had wanted to ask the teen for a long time now.

"Uh sure Yukimaru" Shikamaru felt honored that Yukimaru wanted to call him dad, it just proved how much the boy had been deprived of during his short life so far "I'll sign my name on the adoption papers under father" he leaned down and gave the boy a side hug.

Yukimaru spotted the hawk on the otherside of the window and tugged on Sakura's shirt, she quickly payed for the scroll and broke the seal on it, turned out it was more of Yukimaru's custom made weapons and armor.

"Ready to go to Shikamaru's for dinner" Sakura kept Shikamaru's little request to herself as she grabbed a bag full of storage scrolls, hopefully Yoshino and Shikaku would agree, especially since Shikamaru spent more time at her place than at the Nara compound nowadays.

Yukimaru pumped his arm excitedly Yoshino adored him as much as Sakura did, not as much though because he would always love Sakura more than anyone else "Awesome-sauce" and then he calmed down again.

When they exited the house Sakura wanted to groan, across the street entering the house were Tobirama and Hashirama, the two had spotted her as well but they didn't say anything instead they went in and Sakura carried on her way sure she hadn't heard the last from those two.

Once they entered the Nara compound Yoshino who had been waiting swiftly pulled Yukimaru up off his feet and into her arms "Oh your such a little cutie aren't you Yukimaru-kun" she squeezed him tightly before setting the dazed boy back down.

"I'm a cheeky little monkey" Yukimaru responded to her cute comment, boys were not cute, Sakura bit her lip to prevent the laughter from coming out at Yukimaru's response, as they went into the kitchen.

'Uh oh, Yukimaru's entering the boys are manly and girls are gross stage' Sakura took a deep breath and eyed Yukimaru as he sat next to her, hopefully he wouldn't change to much and push away his only friends, which were girls.

"Onee-sama" Yukimaru had noticed Sakura's expression and he was appalled that his onee-sama would act like that in the presence of their hosts "Stop that" he scolded and crossed his arms to hopefully get his point across.

"I'm sorry Yukimaru" Sakura smiled fondly at the boy and deliberately pressed a kiss to his forehead to see how he would react, she let out a sigh of relief when Yukimaru gave her a hug in return but didn't say anything about girls being icky and how he was to old for kisses.

After that dinner continued on with no more interruptions, when they were all finished the 5 moved into the living room, Yukimaru chose to sit in an armchair and let Sakura and Shikamaru have the loveseat while Shikaku and Yoshino sat on the couch.

"So how have you been" Yoshino was curious Yukimaru had clearly changed in the near two weeks he had been gone, but so had Sakura, if the way she leaned against Shikamaru was any clue to the stronger feelings the two had for one another.

"We've been great Yoshino-san, in fact never better" Sakura shared a smile with Shikamaru, she was happy at the moment the time would come for her to take down her enemies sooner or later but she wouldn't let that stop her from enjoying her time in the village.

Yukimaru not wanting to be left out of the conversation jumped from his chair and went over to Yoshino, his report card clutched to his test "I got perfect scores on all tests" he held it out for Yoshino to see.

"You are so smart, I wish Shikamaru had, had that kind of motivation" Yoshino praised, causing Yukimaru to beam at her proudly and take his report card back "I have a little present for you" Yoshino stood only to pause when Yukimaru called out to her.

"Can it wait until my birthday" Yukimaru murmured shyly "You will come won't you Yoshino-san, Shikaku-san" he looked at both of them while scuffing his shoe on the floor, Yukimaru waited for the rejection.

"Well of course Yukimaru-kun" Yoshino sat back down, Yukimaru gave Yoshino a quick hug before he hopped back over to the chair and jumped into it again "Now, it seems like you have something to ask of us as well" Yoshino turned her attention onto her son and daughter in law.

Sakura elbowed Shikamaru in the side and he sat forward "I've been thinking recently, since I've been spending more time at Sakura's place I was wondering if I could just move in with her" he rushed out and Yoshino let out a laugh.

"Shikamaru you don't have to ask us you're, your own person, it's Sakura you should be asking, but it looks like she already knew about your little request" Yoshino smirked, she had been wondering when Shikamaru would ask.

To be honest it would prevent the teen from sneaking into the Nara compound during night time again, last night she had almost chopped his head off with the frying pan, he had deserved getting her anger then for nearly scaring her half to death.

"Thanks Yoshino" Sakura felt relieved it meant that she would have more time to spend with Shikamaru, unless he was sent out on a mission then all she would have is Yukimaru until her boyfriend returned.

"Call me mother" Yoshino grumbled no matter how many times she asked, Sakura still never called her or Shikaku anything but the way they should be addressed, respectfully and it was a point of irritation for her hopefully when the two got married that would change.

Sakura smiled at Yoshino "Well we're going to go pack up Shikamaru's room and then head home" Sakura gave the woman a hug and Shikaku a wave and then Shikamaru led her down the hall to his now old room.

"So how are we going to pack this all up" Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, cleaning up his room and packing things in boxes would take days, he wasn't sure that he wanted to spend that long on this project.

Sakura snickered and then pulled out the bag of storage scrolls "We'll pack everything in these" she passed several scrolls over to him and he chose a spot on the otherside of the room sheepishly of course she had come prepared.

"Can I help to Onee-sama" Yukimaru wanted to join in, cleaning up was one of his favorite things to do, he pumped his arm in excitement when Sakura showed him want to do before giving him a storage scroll to seal some of Shikamaru's things in.

It took less time than Shikamaru thought as they left the Nara compound behind and headed back to Sakura's and now Shikamaru's house, the minute they entered Sukikyo who had been impatiently waiting for them hooted at them angrily before nipping Sakura's exposed toe.

Sakura held back the curse, she didn't want to give Yukimaru the impression he could go around cussing "Sorry" she mumbled and set down the bag full of storage scrolls to lift the owlett up into her arms and then walked into the kitchen to feed the tiny owl.

Once that was done Sukikyo flapped her wings and flew out of Sakura's arms to land on her perch, Yamato must've been by while they had been gone and noticed that Sukikyo didn't have anything to sleep on yet.

"Alright let's get to work" Sakura rolled up her sleeves and cracked her knuckles before grabbing a storage scroll, for the next couple of hours Shikamaru and her went about unsealing Shikamaru's things and finding a spot in the house for them.

Finally they finished before 3 hours, Yukimaru had gone to bed 30 minutes ago so they decided to head to bed themselves, Shikamaru and Sakura fell into the bed after taking separate showers and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning after breakfast had been eaten Sakura gathered all the animals and Yukimaru it was the weekend, Shikamaru had left a few hours ago because of a mission that he and his team were being sent on for a couple of days, and went to the training grounds.

Of course when they got there Tobirama and Hashirama were using the training grounds as well "Come on Yukimaru we'll go over there" Sakura wanted to start teaching Yukimaru some knew techniques and help him improve even more.

Her appearance had drawn the two previous Hokage's attention and so they stopped their match to watch Sakura and the boy that must've been Yukimaru, as they moved towards the otherside of the field.

"What am I going to learn today" Yukimaru didn't like feeling lazy and really wanted to get back into the swing of training, even though he had, had those tests yesterday they hadn't been nearly as challenging to him because of his extra training with Sakura.

"Well I thought you could practice dodging today and don't worry I will go easy on you until you can successfully dodge an attack" Sakura bit her lip this was one of the most important lessons Yukimaru would learn in his training.

Yukimaru nodded, he knew Sakura would never hurt him even though she could be scary sometimes, his distraction was just what Sakura had been waiting for however as she shot the lightest water bullet she could at Yukimaru.

It hit him in the face and Yukimaru blinked "Sorry Onee-sama, I got distracted I'm ready this time" Yukimaru admitted sheepishly, this was already starting off horribly, and he would show Sakura that he could remain focused.

Yukimaru found his mouth full of water again as he tried to dodge the next one, he huffed as he ducked low but not low enough and got soaked again, they didn't even sting but still Yukimaru was sure by the time they went home he would be dripping wet.

"Hey what do you think your doing to that kid" Tobirama charged over and shoved Yukimaru behind him to stop Sakura's next attempt at teaching Yukimaru how to dodge attacks "You don't just attack children" Tobirama was seething as Hashirama hurriedly ran over as well.

"Onee-sama wasn't attacking me, it's called training" Yukimaru stood up from where he had fallen on the ground and brushed the dirt from his yukata before walking around the white haired male to stand next to Sakura glaring at him.

"How do you call that training" Hashirama was horrified, this is what Sakura was truly like when no one was watching her "That was cruel and you should be going to the Hokage to tell her how Sakura treats you" Hashirama reprimanded the boy.

Hashirama also reached forward to yank Yukimaru over to him, when the boy bit him, he immediately let go "Don't touch me" Yukimaru cried and huddling into Sakura's side fearfully, his heart was pounding in fright and he was breathing heavy on the verge of a panic attack.

Sakura threw the two men a glare that could scare the devil into subordination and then leant down to sooth Yukimaru "It's ok Yukimaru, your safe, nobodies going to hurt you" Sakura rubbed his back until he was sniffling.

"Onee-sama has never been cruel or mean to me, onee-sama has been the first person to ever truly care about me" Yukimaru hiccupped and buried his head into Sakura's chest "Stop trying to hurt onee-sama" he murmured wrapping his arms around Sakura's waist.

Hashirama reached out slowly and then jerked his hand back when Yukimaru flinched and climbed into Sakura's arms "You should be ashamed of yourselves, Yukimaru is terrified of older men and now that fear is going to worst no thanks to you two" Sakura spat at them.

The teen was practically spitting fire at them as Sakura glowered, her chakra was once again leaking out in her anger and this time Tsunade wasn't around to get the girl to calm down "You don't deserve him" Tobirama spat at her.

"AND YOU DO, IF YOU DON'T BACK OFF I SWEAR I'LL TELL LADY TSUNADE ABOUT WHAT YOU TWO JUST DID" Sakura had officially had enough of these two, they were nothing like how she had imagined them to be and they were seriously pissing her off.

Hashirama grabbed Tobirama and pulled the both of them back several steps the girl was a tailed beast host, he could feel the chakra, a mix of several things, her own, the beasts and something else that was inhuman.

'Sakura you need to calm down Now, if you don't you'll destroy the village' Isobu appeared once again, not that the two didn't deserve her anger, but if she kept on going the whole village would be decimated along with the two.

'I can't' Sakura curled in on herself, for the second time losing control as her chakra shield wrapped around Yukimaru and her and then started growing as her powers lashed out, it was truly a horrific and terrifying situation to be in.

Isobu knew that Sakura was scared of losing someone she cared about again 'Yes you can Sakura' he distracted Sakura from her anger 'Yukimaru will be ok, but if you don't stop now he'll be hurt' Isobu stated bluntly.

Tears fell from Sakura's eyes and landed in Yukimaru's hair "Onee-sama, please snap out of it" Yukimaru didn't like this one bit and so he opened his mouth and screamed, this caused Sakura to come back to herself as everything went back to normal.

Tsunade landed in the field just as Yukimaru passed out from using his tailed beast controlling powers "What is going on here" she demanded as Sakura hunched over the boy and began running a purple and silver glowing hand over Yukimaru to make sure he was alright.

"Those two set off Yukimaru, they interfered with his training and then Lord First grabbed Yukimaru by the arm and tried to drag him away from me" Sakura hastily explained with a glare at the two males, before they could get a word in defense of themselves.

"My office now" Tsunade ordered and then walked over to Yukimaru "He'll be ok though because he used his jutsu, Yukimaru will need to rest for a few days" Sakura told Tsunade when the blonde leaned down next to Yukimaru.

Before she could leave though Yukimaru blinked awake "Onee-sama" Yukimaru gasped softly and wrapped his shaking arms around Sakura's neck "I'm glad your ok" he smiled and curled into her arms when she lifted him up into her lap.

'I'm sorry Isobu for not listening to you' Sakura felt horrible about what had happened "I'm sorry Yukimaru" she pulled him back a little bit to see his face "Want to go home and rest for a bit" Sakura asked only to frown in concern when he shook his head.

"Can we train for a bit more and then can I get my hair cut a little bit" Yukimaru didn't want to go home, he wanted to train until he could dodge one of Sakura's water bullets, but Yukimaru also really wanted his long hair cut.

Sakura looked at Tsunade who shook her head, she was so not getting into the argument that was sure to come "Yukimaru, you need some rest, using your powers like that put a strain on your chakra network" Sakura explained gently to the sullen looking boy.

Tsunade was however surprised by Yukimaru's mature response "Ok onee-sama, can I have some honeycombs when we get home" Yukimaru tried for an alternative, he really did feel tired and didn't think he could walk much less move at the moment.

"Yes to both questions" Sakura lifted Yukimaru into her arms and then gave Tsunade a quick wave as she headed to her office to deal with her grandfather and great uncle, she was livid at their idiotic actions today.

"What the hell were you two thinking" Tsunade broke her desk in half with her brute strength "I can't believe you would disregard my orders about getting along with Sakura" Tsunade sat back in her chair and glared at the two men.

"Tsunade she was shooting water shotgun bullets at him" Tobirama tried to defend, did the girl have everyone in the village under her spell, it was like Sakura could do no wrong in any of their eyes and he would set out to prove them that she was a traitor.

"Fools, was Yukimaru telling her to stop" Tsunade growled and nearly knocked the both of them through the window and out into the street when they both shook their head no "Then what fucking possessed you to mess with him" she snarled.

Tobirama felt sick "There is something off about the girl, I just don't like her" he snapped and crossed his arms only to be met with a punch to the face from Tsunade, apparently Hashirama got the same treatment as they found themselves out in the street below.

"Until you two idiots apologize, you will be supervised everywhere you go" Tsunade yelled at them from above and shook an angry fist before disappearing to go find someone to replace her desk and window.

Meanwhile with Sakura, as she was walking down the streets to her home she nearly bumped into the fourth hokage so she hurriedly bowed her head "Sakura-chan" Naruto jumped out from behind the blonde.

When he noticed Yukimaru, Naruto frowned in concern "Is Yukimaru ok he looks a little pale, well more pale than usual" Naruto asked he was further worried when Sakura looked down at the boy clinging tightly to her.

Before she made up some excuse Sakura finally realized the similarities between the two blondes that stood before her "He just used up a little more chakra than I wanted him to, and are you two related" Sakura raised an eyebrow when Minato stared at her in surprise.

"Your quite the observative one" Minato was also worried about the little boy that was being carried by the pinkette, his son chattered on endlessly about "Is he really ok" Minato asked this time and Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, he just needs a little rest" Sakura gave Yukimaru a light hug, which he briefly returned before laying limp in Sakura's arms "Ok a lot of rest" she had contemplated taking him to the hospital but in the end decided to just take him home like she had promised him she would.

"Ohhh Sakura-chan, need to talk to you about a few things, mind if me and my otou-san come with you" Naruto jumped in drawing Sakura's attention onto himself, he had, had a strange dream last night and wanted to confirm his suspicions.

"Sure, you'll probably have to wait for a few minutes" Sakura smiled sheepishly as she led the two back to her house, Minato jumped back in surprise upon seeing the first snow wolf he had ever laid eyes on, standing in the middle of the living room.

"Uh Naruto" Minato whispered as Sakura took Yukimaru up the steps to his room, what the heck was Naruto's teammate doing with the last of the snow wolves and why was the wolf staring at him as if he had just offended it.

"Yeah dad" Naruto grabbed up the brush and moved over to Midori "Hey Midori I'll give you a treat if you tell me what happened to Yukimaru, I know you were there today" Naruto waved the treat in Midori's face.

"Naruto why are you talking to a wolf" Minato was confused, there was no way she could talk but it seemed he was about to get a shock to his system as Midori flattened her ears to her head and opened her mouth.

"Lords First and Second pissed her off, they tried to take Yukimaru away from her for training him, and she lost control of her powers so Yukimaru used his own special ability and it drained him" Midori licked her lips, she seriously wanted that treat.

"Good girl" Naruto handed over the treat and ran the brush through her hair "And Midori's no normal wolf, she is Sakura's companion" Naruto finally answered his dads question, as Sakura finally came back down the stairs.

"So what did you want to talk about Naruto" Sakura motioned for the two to enter the kitchen while she made lunch and some soup for Yukimaru later if he felt up to it, he had eaten quite a few honeycombs and was most likely full.

"I had a weird dream last night, the nine tailed fox told me his name was Kurama and then he said that one of his brothers was sealed inside of you, is this true Sakura and if it is why didn't you tell me" Naruto huffed out.

Sakura cringed that damn fox she was going to strangle him "It's true Naruto, and I didn't tell you because you never asked, you know my rules, secrets remain hidden unless you specifically request for me to tell the truth" Sakura waved her wooden spoon at him.

"Your a host like my son, you sound so proud of the fact people in the village will treat you like a criminal" Minato stood up, how could she act so calmly in the face of being hated by her own village because of hosting a tailed beast within her.

"I am proud, Isobu chose me, and I don't care, if someone has a problem with me they can take it up with Lady Tsunade and the other kage" Sakura wasn't rude in her response "They are the ones who wanted me as his container" Sakura continued stirring the soup.

"I'm glad Naruto has a friend like you" Minato sat back down and then he remembered what Midori the wolf said "Are Hashirama and Tobirama still giving you problems" he asked, Sakura tensed and broke her spoon, it had been a housewarming gift from Yamato.

"The next time they approach me, will be the last time they insult me, I won't tolerate it and I will challenge them to a fight on Lady Tsunade's grounds" Sakura cleaned up her mess and pull out another spoon to start dishing out the food.

Minato didn't doubt Sakura for one minute, from the way Naruto talked she would be that bold enough to do something like that, his mouth watered as she sat the soup down in front of him before doing the same for Naruto.

"Ohh boy cheesy potato soup" Naruto started slurping down the potatoes causing Sakura to laugh as she sat down in her chair "I swear Sakura, you could make even the most ramen addicted person turn to real food" Naruto swallowed.

Minato silently agreed with his son, the girl certainly had an affinity for cooking "So Sakura, I've been thinking about getting a tattoo" Naruto spoke up and Minato choked on his soup, he had never mentioned this to him before.

Sakura bit her lip "Is that so" she asked, to be honest she wanted to get another tattoo as well for Isobu "Well what would you like done" she questioned again when Naruto nodded his head and Minato righted himself.

Naruto pondered for a moment as he slurped down the last of his soup "Red Fox Tail with the number nine" he finally suggested and Sakura stared at him in surprise "What is that bad" Naruto was worried he had chosen the wrong thing for his first tattoo.

"No, that's actually a really good idea for your first tattoo" Sakura hurriedly assured Naruto, who sighed in relief "When would you like to go" she asked when he remained silent and Minato looked a little put out.

"A day where Yukimaru is in the academy and what's the matter dad" Naruto had seen the expression his dad was sporting and thought it was funny, "Is there something you'd like to get done Sakura is an excellent designer" Naruto snickered when Minato shivered.

"Absolutely not no offense to those who do, and when were you going to tell me about this" Minato hadn't known how much his son relied on Sakura, Minato wanted Naruto to be able to come to him with his problems from now on.

Naruto instantly understand "Dad, Sakura was my first friend, she helped me during our academy days" he hadn't wanted to upset his dad but it seems he had done just that "If you'd like the next time I decide to do something I'll tell you first" Naruto compromised.

Sakura watched all this fondly, Naruto needed a parental figure in his life "Well if you'd like we can go now, Yoshino is just about to knock on the door" Sakura hopped up and opened the door for Yoshino who blinked in surprise.

"Hey Mrs. Nara" Naruto greeted taking his spot next to Sakura, he was scared that getting a tattoo would hurt, and he just knew that Sakura would make him go first just to prove a point to him that it wouldn't hurt and it wasn't as scary as he thought.

"Would you mind keeping watch over Yukimaru for a bit Yoshino-san" Sakura smiled pleasantly at her future mother in law, the only one she would have as her real mother was dead and Shibi's wife had died during childbirth.

Yoshino greeted Naruto and then nodded to Sakura's question "I'd love to" Yoshino knew something was wrong when she asked where the little boy was and Sakura responded that he was resting in his room.

Before she could ask anymore Sakura closed the door after Naruto and Minato followed her from the house and down the street to the tattoo shop where she found Kakuzu standing in line "Kakuzu-san" Sakura called out and Naruto wigged out a little bit when he turned around.

"Brat or not a brat anymore" Kakuzu had noticed how much the girl had grown from the little 13 year old to the 17 year old that stood in front of him "Come to get another tattoo or are you just here for support" Kakuzu grinned at Sakura's blonde teammate.

"It's both, and I'm sure I'm still a brat for your old age anyway" Sakura snickered, she turned her head and glared as Tobirama and Hashirama entered the shop "What are you doing here Kakuzu-san" Sakura returned her attention onto the money lover.

Minato who had seen the glare, cringed, that had been some massive rage she had been directing at the two "I wanted to get another tattoo but sadly I can't figure out what to get, would you mind helping me" Kakuzu wanted to see what Sakura came up with.

"Well I had actually been working on a new design but couldn't figure out how to use it for myself, so you can have it" Sakura pulled the seal she had designed out of her pocket and handed it over to Kakuzu.

"And where would you suggest putting it, I'm sure you had this seal designed to work as a storage scroll" Kakuzu grinned again, the brat always surprised him when it came to the small things like this.

Sakura thought for a moment "Lower back your a toughie so it shouldn't hurt to much" she felt comfortable teasing the man "And your right it was another attempt at designing a storage tattoo seal" Sakura admitted truthfully.

A loud cough came from behind and Sakura huffed angrily before throwing another glare at Tobirama and Hashirama, Kakuzu who had never seen Sakura react so negatively to someone before placed a hand atop her head.

"You ok brat" he couldn't help but ask, the girl had helped him a lot, Sakura had given everyone of the former akatsuki a new start in a new village and gotten their names out of the bingo book, and some awesome jobs doing what they did best.

"Just a little pissed at a couple of people" Sakura was truthful as she again glared at Hashirama and Tobirama, Minato wanted to talk to the two so he turned and eyed them as they turned and left the shop.

"Be right back" he called and hurried after the two "Woah wait up" Minato thought the two were acting like petulant children "What's the matter with you two" he stopped them by transporting in front of them.

"That girl is a little menace" Tobirama hissed "She has everyone in this village under some kind of spell" he tapped his foot impatiently "And no thanks to her Tsunade is pissed at us" Tobirama continued on his little rant.

Minato shook his head maybe Sakura was right and the only thing that would get through to them was a good old fashioned smack down, he gave the two a wave and went back into the shop in just the few minutes he had been gone the line had moved up and Kakuzu was gone.

Several minutes later, Naruto and Sakura's names were called and like Naruto had thought Sakura made him go first, he was getting a red fox tail with the japanese letter for 9 in black on his right arm.

When Naruto was finished, the tattoo hadn't hurt as much as he thought it would, he hopped up and Sakura took his spot, she was getting a turtle shell in gray and the japanese letter for 3 in aqua green with a aqua blue outline.

Once she was done they exited the shop bandages wrapped around their arms "We are tailed beast host siblings" Naruto giggled girlishly and pulled Sakura into an extremely awkward dance, onlookers watched on in amusement.

"Ok well I need to get back to Yukimaru, my dad, Shino, Yoshino-san and Shikaku-san are coming over for dinner tonight" Sakura hugged Naruto and gave Minato a wave, at least two of the revived Hokage's liked her and that was enough for Sakura for the time being.

After dinner Sakura climbed the stairs Sukikyo perched on her shoulder and entered Yukimaru's room he was laying on his side and looking much better than earlier "Hey" Sakura whispered and crawled into the tiny bed.

"Onee-sama, I feel better now" Yukimaru didn't feel as tired as earlier but he still hurt everywhere, suddenly he was glad that he had sunday off to recover as well "Would you cut my hair now" he pouted up at her.

"Sure just give me a sec" Sakura sat up and put Sukikyo on the bed, she rummaged around in his bathroom for a moment before beckoning him "Ok come on Yukimaru" Sakura called him into the bathroom and he slowly walked across his floor.

"I want it this short" Yukimaru gestured to his shoulder, half of his hair would be gone, but he would still be able to put it up in a pony tail and at least the other kids besides Tsukiko and Yume would stop making fun of him for having long hair.

"Well ok" Sakura raised the scissors and tried to cut through Yukimaru's thick hair "Hang on I need a kunai" she was a little frustrated as she pulled out a silver kunai and quickly sliced through Yukimaru's hair before trimming it so that it would be even.

Once that was done and the hair was sealed away in case Yukimaru ever wanted a hair whip the two crawled back into the bed and fell asleep, the next couple of weeks passed by relatively calmly but Sakura knew that Tobirama and Hashirama were plotting something.

Her intuition was right as Sakura was summoned to Tsunade's office in the middle of the night, she nudged Shikamaru awake and told him that she was probably leaving on a mission and then appeared near the tower using sand as her mode of transportation this time.

It had been a long time since she had needed to use the sand, the only time it rushed up to her defense nowadays was when she was caught off guard, Sakura shook her head and climbed the stairs, when she entered Tsunade's office she wanted to groan.

3 of the 4 revived kage, and her entire team along with Kakuzu, Hidan, Suzumebachi, Jibachi and Kurobachi stood crowded around the room, they had all been waiting on her because as soon as the door was shut Tsunade began speaking.

"We've gotten recent reports in a little village outside the cloud village that a group of bandits and their two ring leaders were causing trouble" Tsunade pointedly glanced at Sakura hoping she would take the hint.

Sakura's eyes lit up in understanding, maybe Itsumo and Retsu were leading the group "I want all of you to go, capture the leaders alive if you can" Tsunade didn't think Sakura would be able to bring them back alive if it was who she thought it was.

"We understand Tsunade" Hashirama took the lead and the others nodded except for Sakura not that anyone but Sasuke was paying her any attention, but he wouldn't rat her out, they had forged a hate free friendship in the past couple of weeks.

"I'm going to split you up into two groups one team will have seven" Tsunade hoped she wasn't making a mistake in doing this "The first group will be led by Sakura it was time you learned how to command a squad" Tsunade thought this would be a great lesson for the pinkette.

"On her team will be Sasuke, Hidan, Kakuzu, Tobirama and Hashirama and don't forget Sakura is in charge until you all get back" Tsunade glared at the two men who had been acting more like petulant children as of late, she knew they hadn't apologized yet.

"The second group will be led by Anko and on her team will be Minato, Suzumebachi, Jibachi, Kurobachi and Sai and Naruto" Tsunade dared anyone to object before giving them the mission scroll and dismissing all 13 people from her office.

Outside the village Sakura swiped her thumb down her arm to Kakuzu's confusion, wasn't she going to use sand again and then called out her summons "Plume Moth Summoning Jutsu" and a giant puff of smoke momentarily blocked everyones vision.

"Mistress, you need a lift" Rora appeared and everyone except for those that were familiar with the giant plume moth stared up at her in awe, it had been a month since Sakura had called anyone out from the mountain.

"Yeah to lightning country a small village a day away from cloud" Sakura gestured for everyone to climb on once everyone was on Rora rose into the sky and took off, this gave Kakuzu time to ask Sakura a question.

"You seem eager to get there fast" Kakuzu wasn't the only one who wondered what was up with Sakura usually she was pretty slow paced unless something was going on that none of them knew about.

"It might be my mothers killers and they needed to be taken down hard and fast" Sakura smacked her fist against her palm "This is my only chance to get rid of the two problems and get back to a semi normal life" she finished.

"We have to take them back to the village" Hashirama spoke against her, Tobirama was in complete agreement with his brother "Just because you were assigned team captain doesn't mean we have to listen to you" Hashirama glared at Sakura.

"Itsumo and Retsu killed my mother, if we try to bring them back to the village with us, they'll escape again" Sakura grew angry, why were these two also pressuring her and messing her life up, she couldn't even train Yukimaru on the training field anymore.

Suzumebachi who had noticed how angry Sakura was getting spoke in her defense "My niece is right those two need to be killed and I think Tsunade knew that to" Suzumebachi got the others to agree with her which over ruled Hashirama and Tobirama 11 to 2.

An hour later, since lightning was so far, Rora landed on the ground and had her occupants climb off, a second later she disappeared and Sakura donned her cloud headband and hoped that the village would accept her group in with out much hassle.

With a sigh of relief Sakura's entire temporary team was let into the village while Anko took her team to search around outside, it was up to Sakura and her team to search in the village, as they walked through Sakura could see the recent signs of the bandit attacks.

"Brat, how are you going to take them down" Kakuzu wondered if she would perform the sacrifice ritual in front of the others "Will you really do that" he hoped not because he didn't want Sakura to be troubled anymore.

"No, I will take them down the old fashioned way, they don't deserve to meet Jashin" Sakura hissed "Besides I have several other ways to cause pain" her entire personality had changed, as she focused on the task at hand.

Kakuzu didn't like the path Sakura was going down, but it had never stopped her before and she always bounced back, brighter than usual instead he smirked down at the girl and walked forward to start searching like the others had.

Several hours later and no sign of the other team Sakura was about to give up when a certain glasses wearing silver haired man jumped out at her "I'm sorry Sakura but Orochimaru ordered this and I couldn't disobey" Kabuto pushed his glasses up his nose.

Before Sakura could scream out and alert the others Kabuto jabbed her neck and she fell into his arms knocked out "I truly am sorry Lady Sakura" he slung Sakura over his shoulder gently and transported back to Orochimaru's base where he had already put Naruto.

It wouldn't be until the others came back that everyone knew they were screwed Sakura and Naruto were missing and without Sakura it would take them forever to get back to the Leaf Village.

"EVERYONE JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP" Hidan shouted he was seething with unadulterated rage, this was his godchild soon to be niece, since he planned to propose to Suzumebachi soon "Now we are going to do things my way" he unhooked his scythe.

"Who can travel the fastest in this group" Hidan asked much calmer this time and Minato stepped forward "I need you to run to the Cloud Village ask for the Raikage, Ay and his two subordinates Darui and Cee" he started.

"Have them send a message with their fastest hawk Yonomoritaku to the Leaf Village and have them send the Inuzuka boy and the Nara boy and Itachi send a second message to the Kazekage, Gaara of the sand village" Hidan took a deep breath.

"Tell him that Sakura and Naruto are in trouble and that he needs to get to the Leaf Village and help Shikamaru, Kiba and Itachi to the cloud village, and then wait for them there when they show up come back here immediately" Hidan ordered.

Kakuzu was amazed at the maturity Hidan was showing as he ordered the group to search through the village and forest again for any clues "Sasuke, don't take this the wrong way, but you need to stay by me" Hidan gestured to his side and Sasuke quickly took the spot.

With how this day was going, he didn't want to be next and so he remained silent and obedient "Anko did you see who took Naruto" Hidan questioned the purple haired woman who nodded "Who" he enquired.

"Kabuto Yakushi, he said he was sorry and then just knocked Naruto out and disappeared" Anko was pissed two of her students were missing and she was just standing here absolutely useless to the rest of her team.

"Damn that bastard, after all the complaining he did, he still betrayed Tsunade" Hidan squeezed his eyes shut, it was like the night Sakura had been kidnapped all over again, but this time he might never see her again because Sakura could end up dead by Orochimaru's hands.

Suddenly he turned to Kakuzu "Stay far away from everyone in the group, we don't want Sakura's scent that's on you from your close proximity to her to become muddled and the Inuzuka boy not be able to track it" Hidan motioned for Kakuzu to take several steps back.

Kakuzu did so suddenly understanding more about his old partner than he ever did the silver haired jashinist was smarter than he had let on he was much more than a crazy murderer without a brain in his head.

Instead Hidan cared for people on a whole new level much like Sakura did, he could be smart and intelligent, he could love and protect and he could command an entire group of shinobi without a single person protesting.

Meanwhile with Sakura and Naruto "Where are we Sakura-chan" Naruto's head ached as he tried to remove the rope tied around his wrist and failing miserably the last thing he remembered was the look of horror on Anko's face and then nothing.

"That fucking bastard Kabuto knocked us out and took us somewhere" Sakura used her chakra scalpel to cut through her ropes before doing the same for Naruto and healing their heads, hearing shoes clacking loudly on the floor Sakura jerks Naruto into a corner.

She performed a genjutsu that would cover them and make it seem like they had escaped "That won't work on me Sakura-sama" Kabuto smiled sadly at the pinkette before removing the genjutsu, he was glad metal bars were between him and her.

"Orochimaru is resting for now and won't be up to meeting you two for several days, however Sakura, Itsumo and Retsu are ready to see you and I suggest you prepare yourself for tomorrow" Kabuto pushed his glasses up his nose as he hastily explained the situation to Sakura.

Then he left and turned out all the lights leaving the two in darkness "Words of caution Sakura-sama beware of the snakes that litter the forest" Kabuto knew exactly what the girl would do and he wouldn't stop them.

He would tell Orochimaru when he woke from his rest that when he went to check on the prisoners they were already gone and that they had managed to get passed his snakes, of course since Orochimaru was greatly weakened he wouldn't know Kabuto was lying.

Back with Hidan and the others Minato had arrived with Shikamaru, Kiba, Itachi and Gaara in tow, when Hidan saw Gaara he jumped up "We need you to take us all to where Sakura is" Hidan ordered the red head.

"I tried that already but" here Gaara paused and called out to the sand that should've been on Sakura's wrist a moment later it flew into his hand "The sand that always protected her is here" Gaara felt downright murderous.

"Ok Kiba, Kakuzu has her scent on him so we need you to track her down, since your our last option" Hidan sighed why did everything get complicated when it came to Sakura, the girl was an eternal magnet for trouble.

They travelled through the night none of them getting any rest until they ran across an entrance to a hidden compound, the group broke the hatch and jumped into the hole one by one and ran down the halls into the basement.

It was Sasuke who spotted the two first "Sakura, Naruto" he whispered and hastily opened the metal door releasing them "Come on lets get out of here" Sasuke didn't like this place but Sakura stubbornly shook her head.

"All three of the nuisances are right here and we can take them down" Sakura didn't want to leave until Orochimaru, Itsumo and Retsu were dead, she needed to have a normal life so that she could be with Shikamaru in peace.

"Alright fine but we are helping you got that brat" Kakuzu stepped forward as Gaara reattached the sand that had fallen off of her wrist "And I think it's time you came out of the metaphorical closet" Kakuzu smirked when Sakura scowled at him.

"Fine, it looks like everyone is going to see the true me behind the facade" Sakura sighed and pulled out her own scythe no more playing little miss innocent, she was going to use everything she had ever learned against these three men.

Tobirama wanted to say he knew that Sakura was a liar and a traitor but the rage that was rolling off of her was much more than the last time, as she stalked by him and lead every single person down the hall and back up the stairs.

"Well, well, well" Itsumo stepped forward when he saw his great granddaughter and the others "Come to own up to being a demon" Itsumo tried to pressure Sakura into attacking him recklessly but she remained unmoving.

"Go get Orochimaru, I don't care if he's resting, he's going to pay for killing Sasuke all those years ago" Sakura whispered in the large room, but everyone heard the quiet words as one of the servants rushed off to do as she had bid.

Kabuto was hiding in the corner of the room he hadn't thought Sakura would be this crazy, several minutes later Orochimaru looking much older came into the room "Ah if it isn't the pink haired bitch that ruined everything" he coughed up some blood into his hand.

Itachi stepped up next to Sakura, he remembered his promise to the girl 4 years ago "Ready Sakura-san" he gave her a small smile before returning to his stoic facade when she nodded and together they leaped forward while the others tried to take down Itsumo and Retsu.

It was chaos in the room with everyone in their individual battles, for a weakened man Orochimaru sure could hit hard, as he landed a particularly vicious blow to Sakura's side only to be sent flying back as Itachi returned the hit.

Sakura took over this time when Itachi got knocked back by Orochimaru's snakes and cut off the heads of three of them before ducking under the last and sliding across the floor that was slippery because of the blood.

She was covered in blood as she tried to get close enough to swipe Orochimaru with her kunai only to miss as she was blown back by a gust of wind, Itachi caught her and then set her back on her feet as they faced Orochimaru again.

"Give up girl you'll never win against us" Orochimaru laughed darkly before coughing again "You'll never win" he repeated, the chakra he was using was weakening him more, and he needed to end this battle before he died.

Sakura's response drew everyones attention "In case you haven't noticed Orochimaru, I never give up, even when the going get's rough I get back up on my feet and try, try again until I win" Sakura swiped her lip that had split to remove the blood that was dribbling down her chin.

She charged forward going through a set of hand signs, glad that Kiba had thought of bringing Midori along, the pups and owlett that still needed care were in Yoshino's tender hands, Sakura would get home in time for Yukimaru's birthday.

"Snow Style: Snow Field Jutsu" Sakura raised her hands skyward and the snow started falling this made the floor even more slippery but Sakura was adept at staying balanced as she skated over to Midori who had appeared.

"Snow Style: Snow Armor, Snow Style: Snow Shield" the snow formed around Sakura like an old friend wrapping her in a cold embrace as she pulled her tantou from her back and ushered Midori forward towards Orochimaru again.

"Snow Style: Snow Jet" Sakura poured her chakra into Midori who let out a stream of snow, it momentarily distracted Orochimaru and allowed her to get in close, this time she successfully swiped his cheek and got his blood on her tantou.

"Itachi take over" Sakura backed up while putting Orochimaru in one of her mild genjutsu's it wouldn't last long but it would give her the time to set up while Itachi took his place ahead of her, she quickly ingested Orochimaru's blood binding him to her.

Sakura was so distracted that she missed Retsu approaching until it was to late, a thud sounded from behind her and Sakura turned and stared in horror, all the fighting stopped Shikamaru had jumped in front of Sakura and taken the hit like Sasuke had long ago.

It was deja vu all over again, a sword was imbedded in Shikamaru's back protruding through his stomach, Sakura's heart was beating fast and she left like throwing up as blood pooled underneath Shikamaru from the wound.

Everyone missed the black hole opening and Jashin emerging into the mortal world, he had found his replacement and found a way to make himself a part of this world again, when Jashin looked up he cringed.

He felt the murderous chakra rolling off Sakura, the beast she housed was carefully locked away and all of it was her own, then he saw the reason for her anger, her betrothed was laying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, already dead.

Sakura didn't say anything as she shut off all of her emotions and stepped forward and swiped her tantou across Retsu's cheek before ingesting his blood to the disgust of most of the others gathered in the room.

Her fists were clenched tightly as she strode across the room and did the same to Itsumo before she could start Jashin stopped her "Father" she asked emotionlessly and he nodded not liking this version of his daughter.

"Gyakusatsu is who you will pray to now" Jashin told her, keeping some information to himself, this would be her final test and then she and Shikamaru and anyone else the two deemed worthy would be immortal.

Sakura nodded and then created the symbol in her blood, Orochimaru had tried escaping but found himself unable to "All three of you will pay, this is the second time I've lost someone precious and I'll show you exactly why nobody should mess with me" Sakura hissed.

"Oh Mighty Lord Gyakusatsu, by whom all things are set free, I cast myself utterly into thine arms and place myself unreservedly under thy all powerful protection" Sakura begin and viciously cut her wrists the emotions she was feeling were pouring out in waves.

Tears were pouring from her eyes as Orochimaru, Retsu and Itsumo registered what had been done and all of them felt the pain that Sakura had inflicted upon them in her rage filled movements and stared at her in horror when she started up again.

"Visit justice and vengeance upon those who seek my destruction render them powerless and devastated" this time Sakura dragged a kunai across her stomach and then slammed it in, drawing a scream of anguish from all three men.

Next she jabbed a kunai behind both of her knee caps and cut through nerves and muscle tendons, then she pulled out a pike and uncaring of where she put it jammed it into her side until it was poking out through the other side going through internal organs.

"Fill my soul with thy invincible power, strengthen me so that I may persevere in your service Oh Mighty Lord Gyakusatsu" Sakura gritted her teeth ignoring the screams and begs of agony from those who had tried to ruin her life.

Hidan was horrified, Sakura wasn't usually this brutal during her ritual and normally she didn't drag it out but all three of these men had pissed her off to such a degree that until they were dead she wouldn't come back to herself.

He saw her raise the kunai and wanted to stop her, was she immortal, the others were in awe, Sakura was much stronger than anyone ever gave her credit for "Any last words" Sakura spoke to the three men who quickly tried to beg for their lives again.

"Sorry but I don't fall for that not now, not ever say hello to the new god of slaughter for me" Sakura smirked killing intent and chakra flowing off of her in waves as she pushed the kunai into her heart and fell over the same as the three men.

It was silent in the room and no one dared to breathe, several minutes later Sakura sat up with a pleasure filled groan, her head was spinning and everything slammed into her at once, the memory of seeing Shikamaru like that was still burned into her memory.

She scooted over on the floor and carefully removed the sword from Shikamaru and then laid her head down on his chest "Shikamaru please come back to me" Sakura sobbed loudly she felt completely lost without him.

Tobirama and Hashirama realized what a grave mistake they had made and stepped forward only to be stopped by Hidan, Jashin had stepped forward as well and leaned down next to Sakura to speak with her.

"Sakura stop crying, and open the scroll I gave you to give to Shikamaru" Jashin ordered gently when Sakura lifted her head to stare at him, her cheeks were puffy and her eyes were bloodshot as tears streaked down her cheeks silently.

Sakura did as her father told her and pulled out the scroll he had given to her so many months ago and quickly opened it, she read the contents before staring at Jashin with hope shining in her emerald green eyes.

"Go get him" Jashin nudged Sakura and she ran through the hand signs and disappeared, she floated through the darkness until a light shined down upon her and a woman she had only seen once in a picture before appeared holding Shikamaru's soul tightly in her grasp.

"I wondered when I would meet you my precious little darling" Yukina floated towards her "How you have grown, but sadly I don't have much time, you've come for this boys soul have you not" Yukina held the soul out in her palm.

"That's right mother" Sakura nodded but knew better than to reach out and take Shikamaru's soul "What do I have to do to get him back" she hung her head when Yukina laughed, she would stay here if she couldn't get Shikamaru.

"Prove you love him" Yukina wanted to see how much her daughter loved this boy, and then she would send the two of them back with a special gift the rest would be up to Jashin, Hidan and Shikamaru to take care of Sakura when they got back.

"Kaa-san, Shikamaru is the love of my life, I feel lost without him, I would rather die than live in a world that doesn't have my Shika in it" Sakura had started crying again, her heart was clenching in pain and agony was clear in her emerald green eyes.

"Oh my poor baby, you have proven your love transcends even death, take this parting gift and go back to the world of the living with him" Yukina pressed a kiss to Sakura's forehead and transferred Shikamaru's soul into his body, thus he gained immortality.

When Sakura came back everyone cheered, she waited with baited breath and then finally Shikamaru's chest started moving and he opened his eyes "Sakura this is probably the worst timing but would you consider marrying me" he chuckled.

"Idiot" Sakura threw herself into his arms and pressed a kiss to his lips "Of course you lazy ass genius, I'll marry you" she pulled away before leaning forward again and again not letting Shikamaru talk.

"I'm your lazy ass genius slash idiot" Shikamaru smiled cockily "Let's get home and give Yukimaru his birthday party" he slid a ring that he'd been carrying around for years onto her finger and gave her one last kiss.

And so they did go home and Yukimaru got the best birthday, the topping of the cake was finding out about Shikamaru and Sakura's impending marriage that they had yet to decide on and thus closed another chapter on Sakura's life.


	14. Epilogue

A whole year had passed after Shikamaru had proposed to Sakura, they spent every day in happiness until it came time for the marriage to take place then it turned into a world wide event, people from every village came to see the two get married.

The night before Shikamaru had presented the signed adoption papers to Yukimaru and Sakura, thus he became their first child, and then Sakura was whisked away by the women who had come as her bridesmaids and maid of honor.

Shikamaru had a night of fun with the men, the next morning he was woken up by Naruto and then he was being dressed in his dark green marriage yukata, it would match Sakura's kimono that would be decorated in all four of her clan symbols and blood red cherry blossoms.

His own held the same clan symbols as well along with a identifying mark that they had decided on, it was a white shadow that held a cherry blossom, when he stood at the altar, Naruto gave him a thumbs up, Shikamaru didn't feel reassured but he knew Sakura would never run.

In the room where Sakura had finished being dressed in her dark green kimono, her hair had grown out to waist length and was currently put up in an intricate hairdo, the funny thing was Hidan had done that and her makeup.

She stood when someone tapped on the doorway "Father, Dad" Sakura hadn't been able to give up her adoptive family for her real one so both men that had loved and cared for her through out her life would be walking her down the aisle towards her new life as Sakura Kamizuru.

Shikamaru and Sakura had decided to have their last names as Kamizuru instead of Nara, after their honeymoon Sakura would be taught how to be clan leader of the Kamizuru clan, Hidan and Suzumebachi had gotten married months earlier.

Shibi stepped forward first and pressed a kiss to her hair like he used to "I'm glad that I was able to raise you and cherish you as my daughter this is a gift from Shino and I" he held up the comb that had belonged to Shino's mother and his wife.

"Oh it's beautiful that's one of Shino's most treasured items" Sakura had seen the comb several times when she had been let into Shino's room but never touched it, and now Shibi and Shino were giving it to her.

"Yes, but you are an even more beautiful gem that should be treasured and cherished" Shibi slid the comb into Sakura's hair and wiped away the tear that had leaked from her eye at his heartfelt words.

Shibi removed his sunglasses "Shikamaru will treasure you like the gem your eyes resemble" he stepped back and let Jashin talk to Sakura now, he briefly glanced back and saw a whole line of people waiting to talk to Sakura and quietly chuckled.

Jashin pondered over what he wanted to tell Sakura before deciding to just wing it "When you were born, I never had a chance to look upon you" he started "Hidan explained everything to me and then you were gone" Jashin had opened up over the year and started courting Tsunade.

"I closed myself off from the world until you came along as a tiny 13 year old" he chuckled and pulled Sakura into a side hug "Quite the potty mouth you had back then" Jashin gave her a half smile when Sakura rolled her eyes.

"That was before I had to take care of Yukimaru, then I realized if he started going around cussing I would get in serious trouble" Sakura had grown into a beautiful woman, that Shikamaru was proud to call his.

"True, anyways Shibi isn't the only one who brought a gift for you, this is from Tsunade and I" Jashin held out a neatly wrapped package as the blonde woman who looked a lot more youthful stepped into his embrace.

Jashin had erased years of age from Tsunade and now she was a young 35 year old again, she would be frozen at that age until she told Jashin otherwise, Tsunade watched as Sakura carefully rattled the package before opening it.

"You want to explain darling" Jashin had fallen in love once again, but this time he made sure that Tsunade was immortal like him, he would never again lose someone important to him, Tsunade nodded.

"We noticed that your little house was getting a little crowded, what with Shikamaru and Yukimaru living there permanately and then all the animals that have grown massively, Jashin and I had Yamato and Hashirama build you a new one" Tsunade started.

She snickered for a moment as Sakura gave them a puzzled look "It has 5 bedrooms, 3 floors and an attic" Jashin continued for Tsunade who was having to much fun laughing at her future step daughter.

Sakura's jaw dropped "There's a basement were you can create your antidotes and poisons, it has 3 bathrooms, one is connected to the master bedroom and the other is attached to Yukimaru's room in the attic, while there is a spare for guests to use" Tsunade picked up.

"There's a bedroom for the animals, already decked out with their favorite things, which leaves two rooms left for future children" Tsunade smirked when Sakura turned bright cherry red, Shikamaru and her hadn't discussed that yet.

Jashin continued when it was clear Tsunade wouldn't say anything more "Attached to your house is your temple and a four leveled training house in the back yard, I'll leave that up to when you see it" Jashin finished.

And then the three left the room to allow the others to come in and speak with her briefly, though her last two guests surprised her "Lord First, Lord Second" Sakura bowed her head respectfully, it was all she could really do in the kimono.

"Don't Sakura, we don't deserve those titles anymore, not after the way we treated you, and this apology has been in the works for a long time" Tobirama stopped Sakura from protesting and quickly gave her his gift.

"Since your about to become part of the Senju family, I thought you should have an heirloom that has been in safe keeping for a long time it's a pair that matches with Tsunades" Tobirama thought it was funny that Sakura had been adopted by several other clans as well.

Sakura carefully opened the box and saw the emerald green of one of Hashirama's sealing crystals, carved into a delicate ring, it matched the one Tsunade had on her right hand pinky, Sakura slid it on and found it fit her perfectly.

Tobirama gave her the first smile before stepping back, they only had a few minutes before the ceremony began, Hashirama took his place "Well I'm sure Tsunade and Jashin have already told you about the house but I made you a separate gift" he placed the wooden crown veil on Sakura's head and stood back to give her a look over.

"Perfect, you look beautiful in that kimono" Hashirama complimented and then the two of them left the room, the music was starting and one by one her bridesmaids walked down the cherry blossom strewn path.

Sakura was shaking slightly as her two male parents came back into the room and covered her face with the dark green veil that matched everything else at the wedding and then she wrapped her arms around theirs and took their places.

Her maid of honor was Temari, her first true female friend, the 19 year old blonde looked absolutely gorgeous in her light green sunarian dress, as she walked down the aisle with her current boyfriend, which was funnily enough Cee from the Hidden Cloud Village.

Once Temari and Cee had taken their places at the altar where Shikamaru was waiting, though Sakura couldn't see him from her spot, the music changed and Sakura started walking forward, her movements were graceful and her feet barely disturbed the cherry blossom in her path.

And then Jashin and Shibi were handing her off to Shikamaru after the clergyman asked who would be giving her away both men announced that they were giving her away and then placed her hand within Shikamaru's before taking their seats in the pews.

The sound around the two faded away as Sakura and Shikamaru gazed at each other with true love in their eyes and then their attention was drawn to the clergyman who started talking "We are gathered here to join these two in holy matrimony" he called and gestured to both teens.

"Are there any who object to this match, then speak up" Nagato who had been asked by Sakura to learn how to legally perform marriages, looked around, so help him if anyone rejected this marriage now.

Several minutes passed by in silence before he continued "Shikamaru do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife to have and to hold, through sickness and health, through life and through death" Nagato read from the script.

He knew unless Sakura and Shikamaru decided to remove their immortality the two of them would live on through the ages with whoever they decided to bestow their gift upon "I do" Shikamaru nodded his head decisively there was no turning back for him.

"And do you Sakura take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband to have and to hold through sickness and health, through life and through death" Nagato turned his attention onto the female who was most likely blushing under her veil.

"I do" Sakura's voice was full of conviction, her decision had been made the first time Shikamaru and her had ever cloud watched together, she could barely contain herself she was ready to be Shikamaru's wife forever and for always.

"Now before we move on, Shikamaru and Sakura have requested to read their own vows they have written for each other" Nagato spoke up and motioned for them to begin reading the vows they had written.

Shikamaru went first with a deep breath "Sakura, the first time I met you it was in class on the first day, it wasn't until a few days later that I truly became captivated by all that was Sakura Aburame" he smiled and rubbed her knuckles gently.

"Each day, you taught me something new, like standing up to bullies or cloud watching and protecting our friends" Shikamaru continued, he wanted to kiss her right there but he held back because he had so much more to say.

"I was called a lazy ass for most of my life but if anyone wanted to get me motivated all they had to do was talk about you, Sakura" his words drew chuckles from the audience, needless to say it hadn't been a private wedding but the two didn't mind.

"My point is Sakura, I would take a sword to the back again and again, if it meant keeping you safe from harm not that you need it, but at least I would have the reassurance of being by your side always" Shikamaru finished and everyone clapped.

Sakura knew it was her turn now "Shikamaru, we've been through a lot to get where we are, the chunin exams, and then going on a three year training mission and now through your death in which I brought you back" Sakura felt her eyes water at the memory.

"I'm afraid what I wrote is much shorter than yours, but you never have to worry again, I'm yours forever and always" she finished and then nodded at Nagato who beckoned Yukimaru who was the ring bearer forward.

"Sakura, take the ring and place it on Shikamaru's left ring finger" Nagato instructed and Sakura slid the light blue band onto Shikamaru's finger and took a deep breath, this part was almost over and then they could move onto the after party and then go and celebrate alone.

"Shikamaru, take the ring and place it on Sakura's left ring finger" Nagato instructed again and Shikamaru picked up the dark green band and slid it on Sakura's finger until it was right next to her engagement ring it was a perfect fit like he had thought it would be.

"Lift her veil" Nagato watched in anticipation as the dark green veil was lifted and moved out of the way, Sakura had grown into such a beauty over the years "And now you may kiss your bride" Nagato burst out suddenly.

Shikamaru leaned forward slowly until his and Sakura's breaths were mingled, before he pressed his lips to hers he whispered softly so nobody but Nagato could hear "I love you Sakura" and then molded their lips together.

Several minutes later he pulled away and Sakura murmured the sentiment back "I now pronounce you man and wife" Nagato used his chakra to bind the two further together as they addressed the guests.

"We'll be moving onto the after party" Sakura grabbed Shikamaru's hand and then the both of them ran down the steps of the altar laughing the entire way to the confusion of the guests and then the two of them climbed onto Midori.

Yukimaru sitting atop his own companion, Kanpecki who had grown much faster than Akamaru had, they all got a shock when Kanpecki had shared his chakra with Yukimaru and then became life partners with the now 9 year old boy.

The three spent several hours at the after party before announcing their departure, they would be hitching a ride on Tomo who had taken over as head of the plume moth mountain with his life mate and were already well on their way to birthing the next generation plume moths.

Once they had arrived at their private destination, a private gift from Yamato that nobody knew about they were near the waterfall village but still far enough away, where they spent the rest of the day making love in the bedroom.


End file.
